I love chocolate chips cookies, in fact I love cookies in general. What I really like about them is that it takes minutes to prep them and they’re even quicker to cook. It also helps that they’re super yummy both warm and cold and I never feel guilty when I have one too many… not that you should ever feel guilty for rewarding yourself with some sweet delights!
Cookies really make everyone happy, both children and grownups. This week I used this recipe to make some for a friend of mine - she wasn’t feeling very well due to some stressful changes in her work place and I wanted to make something for her. When I bake goods to give away I always put my love there as that is my way to say thank you to someone or to gift them with something special that took me time and effort. I thought cookies were a good idea so she could eat them whenever she fancied one and hopefully thought about our friendship and the fun times we have together.
The workplace can sometimes be a stressful environment. Running a cafe and our wholesale and catering business gets me tired at times and it is easy to forget we have other things outside our jobs. Dealing with the pressure of delivering at high levels at all times is sometimes not easy and can lead to a more unhealthy life. It took me a while to manage work stress and to understand when’s time to work and when it’s time to rest (or play!).
I am still learning but I think I came a long way from when I started. My advice - the same I tell myself daily is to always remember to look after yourself and to make sure you allocate time to do things you enjoy - time to read a book, play with your dog, or meet a friend - whatever it is for you that helps you unwind. Make sure you get yourself out of the office or the house especially with this lovely weather as a walk in the sun always helps to lift spirits! Nurture your friendships and take time to nurture yourself from painting your nails to sitting down and relaxing having a cup of tea, making sure you always put your health first.
Ok, let’s get back to the baking!
Prep time 15 minutes
cook time 10 minutes
makes about 16 cookies
INGREDIENTS
112g Vegan Butter
100g White Sugar - You can also use coconut sugar if you want to make this recipe refined sugar free
100g Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
125g All Purpose Flour - You can makes this gluten free
56g Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
100g Vegan Dark Chocolate + more for topping (chopped into small chunks)
INSTRUCTIONS
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C
2 Mix the butter and brown and white sugar together in a mixing bowl and whisk together until you have a thick consistent cream (you could use an electric whisking bowl if you have one).
3 Mix in the vanilla.
4 Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into a separate mixing bowl and mix in the baking soda and salt.
5 Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing by hand until crumbly.
6 Add the 1 Tbsp soy milk or other non-dairy alternative until you have a thick cookie dough.
7 Add the chocolate chunks to the mix. The dough should be thick, but moist enough to roll into balls quite easily.
8 Once you have rolled into consistently sized small balls you can space evenly on a parchment lined baking tray (allowing space for them to flatten out in the oven without running into each other)
9 Bake for 10 minutes. The edges will be firm but the cookies will still be soft in the middle. This is fine, they will firm up as they cool.
Sometimes I like to pop in a few more chocolate chunks to the top of the cookies as they come out of the oven to give them an extra chunkiness, but this is optional.
I thought I will post this picture.....this is Zz face looking at the cookies...no kidding! haha :-)
I look forward to see your creations, don't forget to share your recipes with us using @leles_london and #LelesRecipes.
And don't forget the most important thing; add a little love to all your recipes - it's the most important ingredient.
Have a fantastic rest of the week everyone!
Valentina x