Recipe #17: Carob Chip and Peanut Cookies

You will want to eat all of these but you really shouldn't-- these are 100% vegan but not a diet food AT ALL.  This recipe was adapted from the Post Punk Kitchen's Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  The batter is pretty oily- I thought I screwed it up but they turned out awesome.  There are a lot of adjectives out there that are used to describe cookies--- gooey, moist, delectable, lip smacking, sinful etc.  These are words that make me uncomfortable.  All you need to know is that these cookies rule.       

1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. white sugar
2/3 c. oil (I used Zoye -made locally in Zeeland, MI!)
1/4 c. plain rice milk 

1 Tablespoon tapioca flour (I found it at Harvest Health)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour plus a little more if needed
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 c. vegan carob chips

1/4 c. lightly salted dry roasted peanuts

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and trim to fit.  

Mix together sugars, oil, rice milk and tapioca flour in a large mixing bowl.  Use a fork to mix it up really well and break up any brown sugar chunks.  Stir constantly--this may take up to 5 minutes.  The mixture should look like dark brown caramel and the oil should be well incorporated.  This step is slightly annoying but really important.  

Mix in the vanilla.  Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda and salt.  Keep stirring.  Mix in the other 1/2 c. of flour.  If mixture seems too runny, add a little more flour--about 1-2 Tablespoons should do it.  Stir in the carob chips and peanuts. 

Grab small handfuls of dough and roll into balls slightly smaller than ping pong size (perhaps eyeball size?  Sorry, that's gross).  Place balls onto cookie sheets in rows.  Flatten the dough balls slightly with the back of a spoon.  Bake for about 8-9 minutes.  They firm up as they cool so don't overcook them even if they look mushy.  Let cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before handling then boom! It's party time.