Piquant Death by Vegan Chocolate Cookie

I definitely advocate healthy eating, but I also advocate that in order to stick to healthy eating you must occasionally indulge. And these cookies are quite the indulgence. Comparatively speaking, these cookies are healthier than their non-vegan counterparts would be… And after a bite, you may feel you can die a happy vegan, nothing else had to die for your enjoyment! So please indulge me as I explain the genesis of these wonderful cookies. This recipe is an amalgamation of the crucial elements found in two recipes, one coming from my current favorite cookbook (Veganomicon) and the other from a pre-vegan old favorite (Death by Chocolate by Marcel Desaulniers). From V’con, the Chewy Chocolate-Raspberry Cookies were the inspiration. Which are quite tasty in and of themselves – of course, I always have blueberry jam on hand, and never raspberry preserves. In that regard, I suppose I’ve never made the recipe verbatim. The second recipe that inspired the birth of this cookie is the Absolutely Deep Dark Chocolate Fudge Cookie. These two cookie recipes have come together in a beautiful syngamous harmony of chewy, chocolatey, spicy, soft and dense goodness which has to be experienced for oneself. And of course, with all great births, part of it’s conception is often serendipitous accident Upon gathering my ingredients, I pulled out my cocoa for the recipe. That’s when I realized I didn’t have any regular cocoa. All that I had was my Dagoba Xocolatl Spicy Hot Cocoa… I’ve never experienced a cookie with heat before..I was extremely pleased. It’s not too spicy, just a nice underlying.. je ne sais quoi. The brown sugar and ganache topping both help offset/compliment the spice. So without further ado…

Ingredients:

1/2 C blueberry jam
1.5 C brown sugar, tightly packed
1/3 C canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 C Dagoba Xocolatl spicy cocoa
2.5-3 C spelt flour (if using regular AP, then only 1.5-2 C – note that AP flour is usually NOT gluten-free)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl stir together jam, sugar, canola, and both extracts.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the 2.5 C spelt flour (1.5 C AP), cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Add dry to wet in 3 batches. at this point, if the mixture is too moist – i.e. isn’t a thick dough type consistency, and is super soft and mushy – add remaining flour. dough should be dense enough to roll in hand without losing shape, yet still remain soft.
4. Refrigerate 10-30 minutes, depending how much time you have to spare. preheat oven to 350.
5. Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment, spaced about 1/2-1 inch apart (they don’t spread very much). You can do a tester cookie to make sure you have enough flour by only baking one in the first round – if it spreads to much, add more flour. Continue testing until the cookie stays puffy and only spreads a little – adding more flour as needed.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. You want them to be just pre-done. You don’t want to take them out after they already look done, they’ll become over done, less chewy and soft, and more crunchy. So no longer than 10 minutes!
7. Let cool on cookie sheet 5 minutes before moving to cooling rack to cool completely.

Deep Dark Ganache

For the deep dark goodness, make some ganache while the cookies are cooling. Place 1 C vegan chocolate chips or any other chopped sweetened vegan chocolate in a plastic, ceramic, or glass bowl (not metal). Set aside. Heat 1/2 C MimicCreme or coconut milk in a small sauce pan until just before boiling. Stir the creme until it starts to steam, but not boil. Pour onto reserved chocolate. Let stand a couple of minutes while you locate your whisk. Once it’s had a chance to stand a bit, but not to the point of cooled, whisk the chocolate/creme mixture starting from the center with small circles working your way out in an ever-expanding perimeter until smooth. Slather on top of cooled cookies. Enjoy!

MimicCreme can be found at Cosmo’s, Vegan Essentials, or Food Fight! Vegan Grocery.