Description
Ultra soft and gooey chocolate peppermint cookies that are undetectably vegan, lower in sugar, dairy free, and can be gluten free! With an elegant chocolate dip, these vegan Christmas cookies are a fudgy dream! Originally published in my cookbook, Baked With Love!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 1/3 cups gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour
- 2/3 cup raw cacao powder
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- ½ cup vegan butter, softened (see Notes)
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
- 2 tablespoons dairy-free milk (if needed)
- ½ cup crushed vegan peppermint candies (see Notes)
- ½ cup bittersweet vegan chocolate chips
Chocolate Coating:
- 1/2 cup bittersweet vegan chocolate chips, melted
- 1/2 cup crushed vegan peppermint candies
Instructions
- Place an oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet (at least 17 by 14 inches) with parchment paper. If you don’t have a large baking sheet, you can bake the cookies in batches using 2 medium-sized baking sheets.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour and cacao powder.
- In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together the coconut sugar, vegan butter, applesauce, vanilla extract, and espresso powder, if using, until creamy.
- Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture while stirring; continue stirring until the mixtures are well combined and you have a thick and sticky dough. Add the dairy-free milk if needed to help the dough form. Then fold in the peppermint candies and chocolate chips.
- Use a 1½-tablespoon cookie scoop to form the dough into 20 balls and place on the prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. (If you don’t have a medium-sized cookie scoop, scoop up heaping tablespoons of the dough and form the portions of dough into balls between your hands.)
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the cookies have spread slightly.
- Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.
- For chocolate dip, dip each cookie halfway into the melted chocolate. Sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Notes
- You can also swap coconut oil for the vegan butter, but I personally prefer the taste of vegan butter in these cookies. I find it makes it fudgier.
- The espresso powder is optional, but I really do recommend it. It makes these cookies all the more chocolatey!
- For nut-free dairy-free milks, I recommend coconut milk or oat milk. (Note: If using oat milk, and you require it to be gluten-free, be sure to buy a brand labeled as such.)
- There are a few different options for vegan peppermint candies in stores and online. But if you prefer, you can replace the candies with 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract, adding it in Step 3, and increase the amount of vegan chocolate chips used in Step 4 to 1 cup.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 192
- Sugar: 14.3 g
- Sodium: 9.1 mg
- Fat: 9.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 27.9 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 2.3 g
- Cholesterol: 13.6 mg