Journey to a vegan (and gluten-free) cookie

At my office, we have a proselytizing vegan.  She likes to share about how gelatin is made out of pig bones, we are robbing baby cows of their mother's milk, not all baby chicks are treated equally, etc.  So, I took this as a challenge to turn a traditional cookie recipe into a vegan cookie.  This wasn't as easy as I thought, but also turned into a self challenge to turn this cookie into a "real food" cookie.

First, the eggs need to go.  What can replace an egg, right?  I certainly never would have previously thought about such a thing, replacing an egg.  What is this item that could replace an egg?  Our vegan informed me that there is such a thing as a real food vegan egg substitute: chia seeds.  Turns out that chia seeds from the chia pet are food and good for you.

Replacing the butter would be even easier by using dairy free butter.  But that just seems unreal somehow.  So what else can be used to replace butter?  Many years ago I started replacing oil with applesauce.  But butter has a different taste and texture than applesauce, so I reduced the butter by half and replaced the other half with applesauce.  My research points to coconut oil.  But where the heck to you get that?  Turns out Trader Joe's brand makes Coconut oil, the least expensive found too.  Had to hit 2 different locations before I found it.

The most important ingredient in oatmeal chocolate chip cookies is the chocolate chip.  Is there such a thing as an easy to find vegan chocolate chip?  Apparently, Trader Joe's makes one.  But seeing as I work full time and am not the domestic goddess this one post makes me out to be, I haven't gotten to Trader Joe's to look for the chocolate chips or the coconut oil.  Turns out that Trader Joe's does NOT have a vegan chocolate chip.  Thankfully, there is a Whole Foods a couple of blocks away from Trader Joe's.  I found 2 different types of chips there: Equal Exchange 55% cacoa semi-sweet and ??? 70% cacoa.

Now that I potentially had my vegan substitutes, that lead me to think what else could I do to make this cookie healthier in addition to vegan.  Boost the flour to make it real and healthy, but how?  Using Missy Chase Lapine's and Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook ideas to enhance the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour and wheat germ.  But can it get better?  How about adding ground up flax seeds?  

Chia seeds, whole wheat flour, wheat germ, flax seeds?  This was like a whole new language to me.  I grew up on almost everything coming from a box or a bag.  My mom cooked those packaged ingredients together to make our meals.  Nothing crazy or all natural happening there.

Lisa Leake's "100 day of real food" does not consider sugar as "real food".  What?  What the heck do you replace that with? Is brown sugar out too although everyone always says that it's better for you?  1cup white sugar can be replaced with a simple 3/4cup real maple syrup.  Since brown sugar is molasses combined with white sugar, that will take more research and many more taste tests to find a way to replace.

(After mastering the vegan cookie, I was requested to make this cookie gluten free too.  Challenge accepted!  Addendum below:-))

My current working recipe is below with the substitutions used in parentheses.

Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies

Servings: 4 Dozen

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cooking Time: 10-12 Minutes

Cookie | Dessert

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 Cup(s) (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened (replace with 1/2 cup of coconut oil and 6 tablespoons natural applesauce) 
• 3/4 Cup(s) firmly packed brown sugar (usually use less, but whatever works for you)
• 1/2 Cup(s) granulated sugar (3/8 cup maple syrup)
• 2 Eggs (replace with 3 Tablespoons of ground Chia seeds in ~9 Tablespoons of water)
• 1 Teaspoon(s) vanilla
• 1-1/2 Cup(s) all-purpose flour (Usually use a flour mixture blend using equal parts of the following: white flour, whole wheat flour, wheat germ, and ground up flax seeds)
• 1 Teaspoon(s) Baking Soda
• 1 Teaspoon(s) ground cinnamon
• 1/2 Teaspoon(s) salt (optional)
• 3 Cup(s) Quaker^® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
• 1 Cup(s) raisins (Replace with 1/2 cup 60% cocoa Ghiradelli chocolate chips and 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips)

PREPARATION:

Heat oven to 350°F.  In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy.  Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.  Add oats and raisins; mix well.  Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown.  Cool 5 minutes on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack.  Cool completely.  Store tightly covered.

Serving Tips: Bar Cookies: Press dough onto bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until light golden brown.  Cool completely in pan on wire rack.  Cut into bars.  Store tightly covered. 24 BARS. VARIATIONS: Stir in 1 cup chopped nuts. Substitute 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or candy-coated chocolate pieces for raisins; omit cinnamon. Substitute 1 cup diced dried mixed fruit. HIGH ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Increase flour to 1-3/4 cups and bake as directed.

Gluten-free addendum:

The gluten-free request was made by one of our many Gasterointestinal office staff that personally suffers from major GI issues requiring her to eat a gluten-free diet.  Her husband is a vegan.  So, the perfect couple for which to try to use real foods and bake gluten-free.  She had to buy the brown rice flour since I wasn't sure when I would next be getting to a store that sold yet another alternative ingredient.  But how to enhance the rice flour and remain gluten free while only working with the ingredients already in my kitchen?  Well, the obvious first choice was to stick with the ground up flax seeds.  There must be something else to add too, no?  Quinoa was on the counter next to the coffee grinder that was used to grind the flax seeds.  So, I tried that.  it turns out that Quinoa flour, despite having the dry texture of maze or fine grits is not gritty when incorporated into these baked cookies.

Who is this person making these cookies with ingredients I had never heard of 10 years ago when Daddy-O and I got engaged?  I'm not sure I would recognize myself then, but wouldn't have expected a different outcome if I had seen potential future mes (like the plural of me, me-s).