Yes, that’s right healthy and cookie are in the same sentence! These vegan carrot cake oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips are gluten-free and made without oil or refined sugar. They are perfect for guilt-free snacking and I have to admit I’ve also made them part of my breakfast for the past two days (whoever made “breakfast cookies” an acceptable term, I love you). Also, carrot cake + chocolate chip cookies = two of my favourite desserts rolled into one.
Small bite sized snacks that are supercharged with energy are right up my alley and this recipe totally fits the bill. One cup of rolled oats have 11g of protein, 8g of dietary fibre and have 19% of the recommended daily intake of iron (and so my love affair with oats continues). These carrot cake chocolate chip cookies also substitute the sugar and oil found in traditional recipes with mashed banana, applesauce and maple syrup. Although maple syrup is comparable to white sugar in calories it has trace amounts of minerals including calcium, iron, zinc, manganese and potassium and has a low glycemic index, so it’s always a good substitute in dessert recipes.
This is actually the first vegan cookie recipe I’ve ever created, so I was pretty ecstatic when they turned out amazing! There is nothing worse than getting all excited about a new recipe idea, then putting it into action and it being a complete disaster. Believe me, two weeks ago…lemon strawberry quinoa muffins… that was past the point of disaster! Thankfully the outcome of these carrot cake chocolate chip cookies were the opposite and I’m really excited to share the recipe.
Healthy Carrot Cake Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup oat flour (ground from rolled oats)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3 tbsp finely chopped pecans or walnuts
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- pinch sea salt
- 3 heaping tbsp dairy-free chocolate chips
Wet Ingredients
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flaxseeds, 3 tbsp water)
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup finely grated carrot
- 1 small banana, mashed (just less than 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Make flax egg in a small bowl, set aside to thicken for 2-3 minutes.
- Combine all dry ingredients except chocolate chips.
- In a separate bowl combine wet ingredients and stir.
- Add wet to dry and mix well, adding chocolate chips.
- Scoop cookie dough onto baking sheet and press down into 12 cookie shapes.
- Bake for 12-13 minutes, let cool for 10minutes before eating.
Hope you enjoy!
