Chocolate Chip Cookies? Yes, Please!

There are plenty of recipes online that claim to be the best vegan chocolate chip cookie out there. I've tried many of them, but by trial and error I believe I truly have THE BEST. Hopefully you'll follow this recipe and it'll result in an amazing cookie for you; one that melts in your mouth and makes you yearn for an ice cold glass of rice milk so you can cuddle up in front of the fireplace with a good book. If not, use it as a starting point to develop your own "best" cookie. Everyone needs one.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup softened vegan butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp flax meal mixed w/ 6 tbsp warm water (let it sit until congealed)
1 12oz pkg vegan chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts(optional)

Heat oven to 375°F. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl until creamy. Add flax meal. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if desired. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes MAX. GENTLY remove from cookie sheet and place on wire rack to cool (they should still be super soft, will form more as they cool).

Makes 2 dozen big cookies.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Hello. My name is Yadira and I am a recovering sugarholic. There was a time in my pregnancy with Annabelle before going vegan that I was eating bags of skittles and microwaved chocolate cake daily. Oh how I wish I was exaggerating. I even made a video with instructions for 5 minute chocolate cake. Watch it for the cuteness of my kiddos, not for the recipe. Smh.

Anyway, since I've been vegan, my sugar cravings have dropped to almost nothing. It's a fabulous thing. However every once in a while I get the urge to bake something fun. That's when this cookie comes in handy. It's almost like breakfast, in a cookie. In fact you probably could bake up a batch and have them as a quick breakfast for the week. I don't even want to tell you they're "sugar-free" because those are usually fighting words, but these are pure and simple goodness.

OATMEAL PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 ripe bananas (overripe is even better)
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp unsweetened rice milk
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 1/2 cups quick cooking or rolled oatmeal
1/4 cup flour

Mash bananas with a fork until smooth. Add peanut butter, rice milk, vanilla and maple syrup and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and stir until well combined.
Shape the dough into cookies and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 13-16 minutes at 350 degrees. Voila! The kids love them!