Chocolate Chip Pistachio and Almond Sea Salt Vegan Cookies

Warm. Chocolatey. Nutty. Slightly gooey in the middle. Firm on the outside. Big statement: these vegan chocolate chip pistachio cookies are the next best thing on my blog.  Beside my pecan carrot cake banana bread, that is.

These vegan cookies contain no chickpeas, no chia seeds, no flax seed, no ground almonds and no other egg replacement. So how can a vegan cookie taste just like a regular chocolate chip cookie, you may ask? Simply because I’ve simply traditional cookie ingredients for vegan friendly ones. Of course, I’ve made a few other adjustments (such as using coconut sugar to make it a little healthier), but other than that, it’s your bog standard (and totally delicious) chocolate chip cookie recipe!

Believe it or not, other than my Paleo Pumpkin Spiced Macadamia Cookies and my Healthy Cookie Brownie Skillet recipe, this is my first chocolate chip cook recipe to make it to my blog. Crazy, huh? So when I was thinking about my first chocolate chip cookie recipe, I wanted it to be special. I wanted to combine all of my favourite ingredients together and to create my favourite cookie texture: gooey in the middle and slightly crispy on the outside. And guess what? This recipe does just that!

Whilst most traditional cookie recipes call for whole milk, I switched this out and instead, used my all-time-favourite Blue Diamond Unsweetened Almond Breeze – a product I’ve been buying for almost two years now. Not only is it very reasonably priced compared to other brands out there, it also only contains 13 calories per 100ml (great for macro counting) and is made with no added sugars. Bingo. I personally love both Almond Breeze flavours from Blue Diamond – unsweetened and original – however, this recipe calls for their unsweetened milk and it works perfectly against the sweet coconut sugar.

As for the taste of the cookies… they have to be one of my favourite flavour combinations in a long time. These vegan cookies are:

• Caramilised – thanks to the sweet combination of the coconut sugar and vegan-friendly butter
• Chocolatey
• Soft in the middle and crisp on the outside
• Nutty
• Salty and sweet
• Mouthwatering good

To create the perfect cookie, however, I do have one secret. Freeze the dough for half an hour before baking. Do it and thank me later. You see, by freezing the dough beforehand, you’re solidifying the fat in the cookies. As the cookies bake, the fat in the chilled cookie dough takes longer to melt than room-temperature fat and therefore, the longer the fat remains solid, the less the cookies spread. This way, you end up with fatter bakery-style cookies that in my opinion, are much more delicious!

I’ve tried, tested and tasted this recipe a fair few times and every time it comes out just as good – if not better. It’s a recipe that both vegans and meat eaters will love. Trust me. These cookies are easy to make (only one bowl needed), contain basic ingredients and are hands down, one of my favourite cookie recipes to date. Give them a go!

Chocolate Chip Pistachio and Almond Sea Salt Vegan Cookies

Print

Serves: 11 Prep Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 40 minutes 40 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

• 100g vegan butter
• 130g coconut sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 60ml Blue Diamond Unsweetened Almond Breeze
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 185g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 115g vegan chocolate chunks
• 65g pistachios
• 65g Blue Diamond Roasted Sea Salt Almonds (one pack)

Instructions

Begin by preheating your oven to 180° (gas mark 4).

In a bowl, add together the coconut sugar and almond milk and stir. Add the butter, sea salt and vanilla extract and stir until the butter has fully combined itself with the rest of the ingredients. 

Slowly add the flour and baking soda - stirring as you go. Once added, fold the chocolate chunks and nuts into the mix. Pop the mix into the freezer for half an hour to chill.

Remove from the oven and cover a baking tray with parchment paper. Using an ice-cream scoop, scoop the cookie dough mixture onto the baking tray - scoop by scoop. Do not flatten the cookie balls.

Once you've used up all of the mixture, place the cookies in the oven to bake for 10-11 minutes.

Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool. Whilst cooling, your cookies will also harden up. Do not touch. 

Once the cookies are cool, serve or simply store in an air-tight container. For freshness, these cookies will only last a couple of days.