Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Black Forest Cookies a la Renee, Our Resident Vegan

Hello all! I made a new cookie recipe yesterday that I thought I'd share. I even like to think of it as somewhat healthy, since it has nuts and dried berries in it. It's super easy to make. Just a warning that the batter does not look like normal cookie dough. It just looks like melted chocolate. I was afraid it would not cook up into a cookie, but it did! Here it is:

Black Forest Cookies (I got this online at, I think, the Ocean Spray cranberry website and, as always, switched things up to be more in line with my tastes.)

1 11.5-oz. bag chocolate morsels (I used a 12 oz. bag Ghiradelli semi-sweet with good results.)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. butter (I used Earth Balance vegan margarine with good results.)
2 eggs
1 t. almond
3/4 c. flour
1/4 t. baking powder (There is no salt called for in the recipe, which worried me, b/c I thought that was needed to "activate" the baking powder. Worked fine with no salt.)
1 6-oz. package Craisins (dried, sweetened cranberries)
1 c. coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pour 3/4 c. chocolate morsels into an uncovered large microwave-safe bowl. Set remaining morsels aside. Microwave morsels 2 - 3 minutes on high. Stir until chocolate is smooth.
Stir in brown sugar, butter/margarine, eggs, and almond. Add flour and baking powder, mixing thoroughly until combined. Stir in remaining morsels (You may want to let it cool a little, b/c if it is still hot, it will melt these as well.), Craisins, and nuts.
Drop by tablespoonsful onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes (depending on how firm you like your cookies) or until cookies are puffed and set to the touch. Cool on cookie sheet 2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool completely.

Makes about 2.5 dozen cookies.

The calories are listed as 140 per cookie, but I made them bigger than 1 tablespoonful each, so I know mine were more! It actually also has a little protein, vitamin A, and calcium, per the recipe specs from online. I hope you enjoy it!

***Note: Use egg substitute to convert to a vegan recipe. :)

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