These cookies have crunchy edges with a soft centre, a rich buttery flavour, and studs of walnuts, oats, and carob chips. It’s surprising how delicious they are!

Chocolate contains theobromine – a stimulant. Like all stimulants, it is unsupportive for yogic practices that require focus of the mind. Carob is an excellent replacement for chocolate and has hardly a trace amount of theobromine. I have made them with both chocolate and carob, and prefer the softness of the carob.

carob walnut chip cookies

preparation  25 minutes

baking  12 – 15 minutes

makes 12 medium or 8 large cookies.

The recipe is slightly altered from Healthier Together by Liz Moody.

ingredients

1 flax egg (2 Tbsp/12g ground flax seeds + 3 Tbsp/33g water)

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup/120g homemade almond butter

¼ cup/25g almond flour

¼ tsp fine-grain rock salt

½ cup/65g coconut sugar

½ tsp baking soda

¼ cup/25g chopped walnuts

¼ cup/25g rolled oats (gluten-free)

¼ cup/35g unsweetened carob chips or chopped carob bar

preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 375F/190C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
  2. Mix the ground flaxseed and water in a medium bowl. Allow to sit for 15 minutes to thicken.
  3. Add to the flaxseed, vanilla and almond butter – mix together with a spoon until well combined.
  4. In another bowl, mix the almond flour, salt, coconut sugar, baking soda, walnuts, oats and carob chips.
  5. Add to the flax-almond mixture, mix, and work the dough to distribute everything evenly (the dough may seem a bit dry and thick, so keep mixing). If it is still dry, add 1 – 2 Tbsp of water.
  6. Scoop a heaped teaspoonful into your hand and squeeze into balls. Place them on the baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between them, and slightly press down with your fingers.
  7. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through until the edges turn golden. Remove from oven and let them cool on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. These cookies are best eaten warm from the oven, or later that same day. 

note

For freshly baked cookies anytime, refrigerate some of the dough for later.

variation

Replace the carob with small currants or chopped raisins which have been soaked in water for 10 minutes.