No, I’m not a vegan. Not even a vegetarian, but a lovely friend who *is* a vegan made these biscuits for me and they were very good.

 

Matt says the receipe comes from a Canadian cookbook author called Dreena Burton and that he makes them with spelt flour and uses raw caster sugar and 54% vegan choc chips from Black Pearl Epicure, in Fortitude Valley.  You can buy blackstrap molasses in the healthfood section of Coles and Woolies or in most health food shops (it’s a great source of iron).

 

What was good about these biscuits is that it didn’t feel like anything was left out; I didn’t feel like I was eating a special ‘vegan’ biscuit; just one that tasted very decadent. Thanks Matt and thanks Dreena- this recipe is from her book Vive le Vegan

 

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (see note below for wheat-free version)
1 tsp baking powder
1⁄2 tsp baking soda
1⁄4 cup unrefined sugar
1⁄4 tsp sea salt
1⁄3 cup pure maple syrup
1⁄4 tsp blackstrap molasses
1 – 1 1⁄2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1⁄4 cup organic canola oil (a little generous 1/4 cup)
1⁄3 cup non-dairy chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C). In a bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the sugar and salt, and stir until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine the maple syrup with the molasses and vanilla, then stir in the oil until well combined. Add the wet mixture to the dry, along with the chocolate chips, and stir through until just well combined (do not overmix). Place large spoonfuls of the batter on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and flatten a little. Bake for 11 minutes, until just golden (if you bake for much longer, they will dry out). Let cool on the sheet for no more than 1 minute (again, to prevent drying), then transfer to a cooling rack. Makes 8-10 large cookies.

Note: Unbleached all-purpose flour produces a cookie with a very classic taste and texture, but you can use whole-wheat pastry flour and still have delicious cookies! For a wheat-free version, use barley or spelt flour. With spelt flour, you may need to add an extra 2-4 TB of flour, if it is a refined spelt flour. Also, if using all-purpose flour, if the batter is heavy and dense when mixing in the wet ingredients, add another 1-2 tsp each of maple syrup and canol oil and work through.

Of course, I can’t leave a recipe alone so I made a version where I added some cacao nibs for a little crunch (fantastic anti-oxidant) and used smashed up 70% Lindt chocolate and instead of the canola oil, I used around a tablespoon of quite oily almond, brazil, cashew nut butter.