Chocolate Almond Cookies

Tucked deep within the East Village in New York City, there lies a fantastic little vegan restaurant called The Candle Cafe. Coveted by carnivores and plant-lovers alike, the menu specializes in creative and high caliber cuisine that is rarely found in vegan dining. So imagine my excitement when, browsing through my local bookstore, I found The Candle Cafe Cookbook, on sale for 25% no less!

The book's recipe for Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies seemed intriguing to me because of its simplicity and decidedly rich ingredients. I thought they would be perfect with a glass of vanilla soymilk for a little midnight snack!

The recipe calls for egg replacer, so I thought this would be an ideal opportunity to attempt to create my own "egg" with ground flaxseeds and water. I had read that when whisked vigorously, the flaxseeds adopt a gelatinous texture that mimics egg properties. In addition, though the recipe contains macadamia nuts, I decided to use chopped almonds instead- any Almond Joy fanatic will tell you that nothing can beat the chocolate-almond combination! So although the recipe is slightly altered from what you would find in the Candle Cafe, the cookies are pretty darn delicious!

Chocolate Almond Cookies
makes around 18 cookies

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup chopped raw almonds

1/2 cup soy margarine

1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds

1/2 teaspoon water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons soy milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the ground flaxseeds and water in a cup, whisk furiously for 5 minutes, until slightly syrupy and thick. Whisk together the margarine, soymilk and vanilla extract to the seeds. Set aside.
In another bowl, combine the salt, flour, sugar, nuts, chocolate chips, baking soda and cocoa powder. Mix well. Add the wet ingredients to this mixture.
Using a small ice cream soup or tablespoons, drop mounds onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake 15-18 minutes.