Makes 40 two-inch cookies or 20 larger ones, your call

Gluten free and Lactose free

 

Oh, the perils of recipe developing. The warm Spring day I was developing these wee chocolate morsels a squirrel, who I expect was tempted by the chocolate yumminess wafting through my screen door, somehow pried his way through the screen and into my kitchen while I was upstairs in my office.

I was busy writing up the recipe when I heard some odd noises coming from downstairs. I walked in to find the culprit having a heyday with an entire cookie in his mouth. He was high on chocolate and had run amuck, the place was a wreck of chocolate crumbs and half eaten cookies. I used my deep actor’s voice and fired off a thick cloud of profanity.

To his credit, he held that cookie tightly in his mouth as he tried to throw himself through the backscreen door. I got him between the back door and the screen door then opened the screen, so he could get out of Dodge. The backroom was in chocolate cookie crumble shambles. On a positive note, these cookies are gluten free and apparently squirrel approved.

 

¼ cup + 2 Tbsp canola oil – using a glass measuring cup and a tablespoon measure

2 Tbsp liquid honey

¾ cup packed dark brown sugar

¼ cup flaxseed meal

1 -omega-3 egg

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

½ cup natural cocoa powder

¾ cup + 1 Tbsp whole grain oat flour – see note below

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ cup dark or bittersweet chocolate chips

 

1. Make sure the rack in your oven is in the middle. Preheat your oven to 375 F°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl beat together (I use a hand held electric beater, but you can be old school and use a wooden spoon if you like) oil, honey and brown sugar until it looks like wet sand.
3. Add flaxseed, egg and vanilla and beat until thick and creamy and a lighter shade of brown.
4. Add cocoa powder and gently beat in, no beating on High or you’ll be wearing cocoa powder as it flies out of the bowl and lands on your clothes. (I know from experience) When the cocoa powder is totally incorporated, beat for an additional minute. Add flour and baking soda and gently beat in until combined. Add chocolate chips and stir in well.
5. Using a 2-teaspoon ice cream scoop with a release button measure out and drop the dough onto the prepared pan. You should get 20 scoops onto one sheet.
6. Bake for 8-9 minutes, remove from oven and let sit on the cookie sheet for three minutes, remove and let cool on a wire cooling rack. Finish baking the rest of the dough.
7. Store cooled cookies in a covered container for 1 week or freeze for up to three months.

 

Makes – 40 two-inch cookies or 20 larger ones

One serving = 2 cookies of the two-inch cookies or one larger one

Per Serving: 128 Calories, 6.7 g Total Fat, 1.2 g Saturated Fat, 0 Trans Fat, 10 mg Cholesterol, 11 mg Sodium, 17 g Carbohydrate, 2 g Fibre, 12.4 g Sugars, 11.7 g Added Sugars, 1.4 g Protein, 85 g Potassium

Carbohydrate Choice = 1 choice

Professional home economist tip:

To make sure these are gluten free buy oat flour that has been certified GF. All oats are naturally gluten free, but if the facility where they are processed processes wheat, they won’t be.

Recipe is from Peace, Love and Fibre (appetite Random House 2019)

To order Peace, Love and Fibre