Paleo Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Vegan, grain-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free

If there is one thing that no one can resist, it is a warm chocolate chip cookie. There are so many different recipes out there, varying types of sugars, flours, fats, adding starches, and it goes on. But how do you make that same chocolate cookie experience when you don’t have butter, sugar or grains? 

I won’t lie; it took me a long time to get the perfect paleo chocolate chunk cookie. I have gone through many iterations and at last, I have a paleo cookie that can trick the non-paleo folks. 

Almond Butter 

If there is one key thing to baking, it is fat. You need to have the right fat, the right amount of it and balance the fat with the rest of the ingredients. Almond butter is one of my favorite paleo-friendly fats for baking because it has such a great flavor. The roasted, nutty almond butter almost mimics the taste of brown butter, while providing a decent amount of naturally occurring fat as well. 

When almond butter is paired with coconut oil (an oil that can take prolonged and high heat), you are doing to be a deliciously moist, chewy cookie. For my almond butter, I always opt for the smooth, salted version. The only thing I would say is make sure to read to label to ensure that there is no added palm oil (mostly added so you don’t have to stir). 

Agave Nectar 

The best part of brown sugar (the answer to a great cookie) is the molasses that is mixed into it. Liquid sugars are the key to creating a chewy cookie center. I will always want t a chewy cookie over a cake-like cookie. Agave nectar is sort of taking over for that molasses in brown sugar. You get a sweetness, but also moisture. Also, fun fact, a bit more a tender cookie crumb. 

For my preferred agave nectar, I like the darker raw blue agave nectar from Madhava. If you do not have agave, you can use maple syrup, date syrup or even blackstrap molasses. I would not swap in honey as it can act a little differently in the final cookie. 

Potato Starch 

When you take gluten AND grains out the baking equation, it becomes very tricky to get that ever-so-wonderful chewy cookie center. With many paleo cookie recipes that I have tried, you end up with a more crumbly, cake-like cookie. I have tried many combinations of flours and finally found the one key ingredient that I needed: potato starch. Yes, potatoes were the answer. First of all, this is not potato flour. The starch is extracted from potatoes and made into a powder. 

Potato starch, combined with arrowroot and almond flour, gives you what is basically the texture of a cookie made with flour. You get a slight chewy, dense middle, but still a tender, soft crumb. Potato starch is one thing that I always have in my pantry. Bob’s Red Mill is my preferred brand and is available is most super markets or Amazon. 

Paleo Chocolate

I cannot live without chocolate. I eat it at least 4 times a day. One whole shelf in my fridge is devoted to chocolate and now almost all of that chocolate is free of refined sugar. In my true obsessive fashion, I have tried many paleo (aka refined sugar free) chocolates from different brands. Some had a floral taste, others were too bitter, but some were just right. 

Taza Chocolate is my preferred chocolate and I have been using their paleo chocolate slab for the last couple of months. Recently they came out with a paleo almond milk chocolate bar and it is my new love. It has the mouth feel of milk chocolate, but with the taste of dark chocolate. The bar is perfect to be chopped and tossed into this dough. The larger chunks melt lusciously; the smaller bits meld into the crumb of the cookie. It is heaven. 

Now, transparency, Taza Chocolate is my siblings’ business; so, I am a bit biased. That being said, it is the best chocolate I have tried for vegan and/or paleo baking (and eating). 

Enough talk; it is cookie making time. Tag me (@yespleasebakes) when you make them and let me know what you think! 

Recipe

66g (about 1/3 cup) refined coconut oil, melted 

83g (an overflowing 1/3 cup) almond butter (i prefer salted) 

83g (1/2 cup) coconut sugar 

2oz (about 3 tbsp) agave nectar 

8g (1.5 tbsps) flax meal 

3 tbsp warm water 

148g (1.25 cups) almond flour 

65g (1/4 cup) arrowroot flour 

21g (2 tbsp) potato starch 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1/4 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp salt (only if you are using unsalted almond butter)

70g (about 1/2 cup) chopped Taza Almond Milk Chocolate 

Flaky sea salt for topping

In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (make sure to get any lumps in the almond flour out). Add the chopped chocolate and toss to coat. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the almond butter, coconut oil, coconut sugar, agave, flax meal and water. Do not combine the water and flax ahead of time, trust me on this. 

Once everything all the wet ingredients are combined, add the dry ingredients and combine using a spatula. Make sure to get any last lumps of almond flour out. Cover and chill in the fridge while you heat up the oven. 

Heat the oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop (or a spoon), scoop dough onto the baking sheet, leaving about 1.5 inches between each. Top each with flaky sea salt. 

Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, just until the edges start to turn golden brown (you want the centers to be paler and stay soft). 

Let cool for 15 minutes before enjoying with some almond milk, take 2 cookies and squeeze some of your favorite nice cream in between, or just eat one as it is. All are delicious. 

Store in a covered container at room temperature for 1 week (if you don’t eat them all before then); freeze in a seal container for 1 month. 

Variation: add a teaspoon of cinnamon, half a teaspoon of ground ginger and swap the chocolate chunks out for shredded coconut for a spicy-sweet treat.