Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies with Flaxseed Meal (flax seed powder)

If I have to choose between a chocolate chip cookie and a sugar cookie coated with sugar icing, I will always, always choose the chocolate chip cookie.  A crunchy or chewy, whichever kind of chocolate chip cookie you like more - with bits of chocolates in between, and a few bites of nuts surprising you in bits - you cannot say no to a chocolate chip cookie, can you?

I have baked these eggless chocolate chip cookies numerous times.  Sometimes with only white sugar, sometimes along with brown sugar.  Sometimes with almonds, sometimes with pecans or walnuts, or a combination.  Sometimes with chocolate chips, sometimes with chocolate chunks.  Sometimes for ourselves, sometimes take cookies for the host when we're invited over for dinners.

I have used the semi-sweet baking chunks from the Scharffen Berger hamper here, but you can surely use the Nestlé chocolate morsels or any other brand you like.  Chocolate chunk cookies are just chocolate chip cookies with chunks of chocolate instead of the little drops of chocolate chips.

Eggless Chocolate Chunk Cookies (makes about 12 cookies)
adapted from Wilton's Chocolate Chip Cookies

What you need:

½ cup all-purpose flour

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

⅛ tsp (a pinch) of cinnamon powder, optional

⅛ tsp (a pinch) of salt

¼ cup butter, room temperature

¼ cup brown sugar, light or dark, firmly packed

¼ cup granulated sugar

½ Tbsp flax seed powder + 1 ½ Tbsp warm water

½ tsp vanilla extract

⅓ cup semisweet chocolate chunks (or chocolate chips!)

2-3 Tbsp chopped nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts, etc), optional

Procedure:

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (so that the cookies don’t brown too much from the bottom, and can slide off easily from the sheet.  Keep the gooey flax seed powder + warm water mixture aside.

2.  In a medium bowl, sift flour + baking powder + baking soda + cinnamon + salt together.  In a large bowl, beat together butter + sugar until light and fluffy (see blunder alert below).  Add flax + water mixture and vanilla extract, mix.

3.  Add the sifted flour mixture, gently mix and fold in the flour until it all comes together.  Do not whip; overmixing the cookie dough makes the cookies dense.  Stir in the chocolate chunks + chopped nuts.

4.  Drop the cookie dough by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet.  They will flatten and spread as they bake, so you do not need to shape them.  Just drop them roughly with enough space for them to spread without sticking to each other.  You should be able to put 12 cookie dough drops on the sheet at a time.

5.  Bake for about 9-10 minutes or until edges are golden brown.  Place cookie sheet on rack for 5 minutes, then transfer the eggless chocolate chip cookies onto the rack to cool completely.

Cinnamon and salt are optional, but they do add a hint of their individual flavors.  Flax seed powder is a good substitute for eggs in certain recipes.  It adds a distinctive nutty flavor, so I do not use it in vanilla cake but perfectly all right for these cookies or an eggless brownie with nuts.

You should definitely make these delectable chocolate chip cookies.  Use brown sugar if you can, you will get nice soft chewy cookies.  Using only white granulated sugar will make the cookies on the crispier side.  And the nuts are absolutely optional.  Add, don't add, add more, add less; does not matter. 

Blunder Alert!
Do not beat the butter-sugar mixture too long otherwise all the air incorporated in the butter-sugar mixture will make the cookies spread out flat and become too soft to hold.  Beating butter-sugar well works perfect for cake batter to make it light, airy, and spongy, as well as for buttercream - but NOT for cookies.

I will now leave you with a thought for today.

Enjoy.
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