Baking treats for the office is not your run of the mill challenge in HipsterVille – also known as Berlin -. You’ve got your vegetarians, your vegans, your lactose intolerants, your gluten intolerants, and other such wonderful creatures.
There’s nothing more disappointing than spending your evening baking delicious treats only to have them refused by half of the people you work with because of dietary restrictions. And I enjoy a challenge as much as the next person, so I’m experimenting – successfully, might I add! – quite a lot lately. This one is an adaptation of my most popular cookies, which I’ve converted into completely vegan and could very easily be converted into gluten-free as well.
- 4 cups flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil (I used rapeseed)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons good quality vanilla extract
- 3 flaxeggs*
- 3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 tbsp. unsweetened coconut flakes
- Preheat oven to 175°C.
- Mix flour, baking soda and salt in one bowl.
- Mix oil and both sugars and blend well.
- Add the flaxeggs and the vanilla to the oil and sugar mixture and blend until thoroughly mixed. Then add the cocoa powder and coconut flakes in too.
- Mix both bowls together. The texture will look slightly crumbly even though oily. Even out the mixture onto a paper lined baking tray. Make sure it isn’t thicker than 1cm. You might have to use two trays or bake in turns in order to use up all the dough, depending how big your baking tray is.
- Bake for 10 minutes and allow to cool.
*for 1 flaxegg, ground 1 tablespoon flaxseeds and add 3 tablespoons water.
BONUS TIPS:
- Substitute cocoa powder and coconut flakes for vegan chocolate chips.
- You can pretty much substitute the cocoa powder and coconut flakes for anything that tickles your fancy: walnuts, cranberries, almonds (my favourite!), pistachios, raisins… And let me know in the comments what your favourite combinations are!
