Café Gratitude Calls This Vegan Cookie Its All-Time Winner

If this period of self-quarantine taught us anything—besides the importance of washing your dang hands—it’s that you can’t have enough good cookie recipes.

This one, from Café Gratitude’s brand new cookbook, Love Is Served—out April 7—has walnuts, a dash of cinnamon, a bit of maple syrup, and no pesky animal byproducts.

Café Gratitude has closed all its locations during the pandemic, but in the meantime you can make dishes like I Am Open Hearted, I Am Ecstatic, and, this one, I Am Affectionate, at home.

I Am Affectionate

Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

We’ve done a few different versions of the ultimate vegan cookie over the years, but the all-time winner is the chocolate chip-walnut. It’s a big, chewy, whole-food treat that just really hits the spot.

Makes 12 cookies

3⁄4 cup Gluten-Free All-Purpose Bakery Flour Blend

3⁄4 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips

1⁄2 cup raw walnuts, chopped

1⁄2 cup rolled oats

1⁄2 cup cane sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

3⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1⁄2 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt

1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda

1⁄3 cup Coconut Milk

1⁄3 cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon chia seeds

1⁄4 cup coconut oil, softened

1⁄2 cup almond butter

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour blend, chocolate chips, walnuts, oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Mix gently until combined.
3. In a blender, combine the coconut milk, maple syrup, and chia seeds. Blend until the chia is fully dissolved, about 1 minute. Add the wet blended mix to the dry mix, along with the coconut oil and almond butter. Mix until everything is fully incorporated and forms a soft dough.
4. Using a 1⁄4-cup measure, scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing each cookie 5 inches apart, and flattening each cookie slightly. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack. The cookies should still be a little soft when you remove them, but they’ll firm up as they cool. Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

From LOVE IS SERVED by Café Gratitude with Seizan Dreux Ellis, published by Avery, and imprint of Peguin Group, a Division of Penguin Random House. © 2020 by Dreux Ellis

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