A Cookie Without Dairy or Egg (It is STILL Delicious!)
April 13, 2011 35 Comments
If you read Snack Girl enough, you know that I like a challenge. I had seen vegan cookies at cafes and thought, "no butter, no eggs, equals a disgusting cookie".
But, then Brandy e-mailed me and asked this question:
Could you keep your eyes open for a drop cookie recipe that tastes good and is made without dairy or egg? A little background...grandma was semi professional baker.
My dad and I became huge sweets lovers. Enter my preemie with food allergies. Now he's 4.5 and we're sick of having different foods for different people. Apparently dairy-free, egg-free, yummy and simple just don't come together in my world.
I felt sad for this little child surrounded by bakers and just plain left out with his food allergies (and I love a challenge).
Basically, I had to come up with substitutes for butter and eggs that would still taste like a delicious cookie. For the butter, I had one thought - coconut oil!
The New York Times featured an article on March 11th entitled Once a Villain, Coconut Oil Charms the Health Food World. The conclusion is that the saturated fat in coconut oil is actually different than the saturated fat in butter - and coconut oil is good for you!
You can spread it on your skin if you decide these cookies are yucky :)
Organic coconut oil will set you back about $7 for 14 ounces (much more expensive than butter) BUT, it has a sweet flavor and the consistency is excellent for cookies. I found it in the natural foods section of my Stop & Shop.
What about the eggs? This was a bit trickier because you need the eggs to bind the ingredients together. So, I went with "Ener-G Foods Egg Replacer" which I found at Whole Foods. An alternative would be Vegg - vegan egg baking mix available at Amazon.com below.
This product is essentially starch that can be added to baked goods to replace both the egg white and egg yolk - and it has no egg in it. It is perfect for people who are allergic to eggs.
This will bring down the calories a little on the cookie (eggs have 70 calories each while the egg replacer is 15), and it is easy to use.
What can I tell you? These came out delicious and my family didn't even realize that the butter and eggs were missing.
They are a bit flatter and a little tricky to get off the baking sheet. They are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I hate to say this, but I liked them more than the butter ones (which really shocked me).
Another cool thing is that they stayed fresh tasting for about three days. The coconut oil doesn't go stale like the dairy and eggs in a regular cookie so you can make a bunch and they are like fresh baked. Crazy, no?
Please comment on your vegan fixes for recipes.
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Makes 2 dozen
Ingredients
8 tablespoons coconut oil
3/4 cup white sugar
1.5 teaspoon egg replacer
4 tablespoons warm water
1 cup all-purpose flour or white whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix egg replacer and 2 tablespoons warm water in a small bowl. Cream coconut oil, sugar, egg replacer and water in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients, stir in by hand and then stir in the chips. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and bake for about 10 minutes. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before eating.
Nutrition Facts
For one cookie = 106 calories, 5.9 g fat, 13.6 g carbohydrates, 0.9 g protein, 0 g fiber, 37 mg sodium, 3 Points+
Points values are calculated by Snack Girl and are provided for information only. See all Snack Girl Recipes
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