I cook a lot. Several meals a day, every day. I bake a lot too, but that's just to feed my sweet tooth. I've been dairy-free for 6 weeks and it seems to be helping my 3 month old baby's reflux, so I'm going to keep at it for a while. The hardest adjustment has been my morning coffee: oat milk doesn't taste nearly as good as cow's milk in there and I just cannot deal with black coffee. I try not to consume too much soy (Here's one post that nicely sums up my issues with soy) and I don't eat nuts so soy milk and almond milk are out.

Anyway, long story short, besides coffee, the rest has been pretty easy. And it's not hard to make dietary sacrifices when I see such improvement in my little one. I'd even give up cookies and coffee for that. Along the way, I've been testing out dairy free breads and cookies. Some have been epic fails. Some have been delicious. The other day I made these vegan chocolate chip cookies (modified recipe below) and my husband proclaimed them awesome. In fact, he tweeted: "So my wife goes dairy free and the cookies get better. It’s like a magical fairy lives in my kitchen.

Yay. These cookies were really good and super easy. I made them with my 2 year old, who had a grand old time tasting the dough. I was skeptical, admittedly. They have no leavening ingredients and flax seed meal. It all seemed a tad weird, frankly, but we pushed forward and voila! Yum. I made them small -- silver dollar size -- the original recipe said I'd yield 12 cookies but we made 36. I love small cookies -- it's a win-win for everyone. These fit nicely in the palm of my 2 year old's hand. More cookies, better portion size, great for kids' lunches. Thanks to the coconut oil, these were not only flavorful but also nicely crispy. And because of their small size, the crispiness wasn't odd. I used these dairy free chocolate chips which melted nicely (as you can see above). This is definitely a recipe I'll make again.

Enjoy!

Silve Dollar Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

Yield:12 cookies
Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

⅓ cup virgin or extra virgin coconut oil
¼ cup+ 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
¼ cup+ 2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon ground flax seed meal
3 tablespoons warm water
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup+ 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup dairy free chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Combine flax seed with water in a small bowl and set aside.

3. Cream coconut oil with evaporated cane juice and brown sugar until well blended.

4. Add flax seed mixture and vanilla extract. Beat until well blended.

5. Add flour and salt in three stages, scraping the bowl after each new addition. Mix until smooth.

6. Fold in chocolate chips and spoon 36 tablespoon sized dough balls onto a baking sheet. Slightly flatten each dough ball by pressing down on them with the back of a spoon.

7. Bake in center rack of oven for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown.

It worked!

I played around with the delicious recipe from Une Gamine Dans La Cuisine that I blogged about last week and the outcome is equally as yummy! I substituted orange zest and juice of an orange for lemon in the original recipe and also substituted fresh mint for fresh thyme (full recipe below). Voila: Orange Mint Olive Oil Cookies!

My family can barely wait for them to cool before gobbling them up. If you're looking to bring cookies to a New Years party, look no further - these tasty cookies have a delicate cookie texture and an interesting flavor that nicely balances sweet and salt. Thank you again to Une Gamine Dans La Cuisine - the original source of this inspiration!

ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons orange zest (about 1 navel orange) {note: save the orange for the juice}
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons finely minced mint
2/3 cup virgin olive oil
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 Tablespoon fresh orange juice

topping
1/2 cup granulated sugar for rolling

method
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sugar (1 cup) and lemon zest. Rub the zest into the sugar until it's evenly moistened and aromatic; Set aside to marinate for a few minutes.

In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and mint; Set aside.

Add the olive oil, egg, vanilla extract, and orange juice, to the orange-sugar mixture. Using the paddle attachment, beat on med-low speed until smooth. (About 3-5 minutes.) Add the dry ingredients and beat on med-low speed until just combined. Switch over to a large rubber spatula and use it to mix in any stray flour streaks. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Place the 1/2 cup of granulated sugar (for rolling) into a large, shallow bowl.

For each cookie, measure out about 2 well-rounded teaspoonfuls. Roll into balls and roll the balls through the bowl of sugar until evenly coated. {Note: Don't worry if the dough is a bit crumbly. If you work the balls of dough long enough with your palms, it will come together.} Place the sugar-coated cookies onto prepared sheets. Use the bottom of a glass or cup to flatten slightly.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will have puffed up slightly but will still look pale. (Mine were just right after 8 minutes.) Remove the cookies sheets from the oven and let the cookies rest for about 3 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Recipe adapted from Mama's Gotta Bake