I made these Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies for my favorite little man — my son, Jay. But as their rich, intensely chocolate-y, deep fragrance permeated the house, and as I took my first bite, I simply didn’t want to share. Not very mom-like, I know, but, erm, human?
Chocolate and hazelnuts are an easy and natural flavor combination, as anyone who’s spread a spoonful of Nutella on toast knows. And in these cookies there’s an armload of hazelnuts and two armloads of chocolate, in the form of raw cacao powder and semisweet chocolate chips. What also gladdens this mom’s heart is that the cookies are wholegrain, and with unrefined sugar sweetening them, I know this is a treat I can add to Jay’s snack box without any qualms. Also, I don’t think I’ve made an easier cookie– there was no mixing the dry ingredients and mixing the wet ingredients and combining them, and all that. You just throw the ingredients in one by one — in the right order, of course — and you’re done.
If you’re a mom or a dad, do you ever get the feeling that what your child is eating is beyond your control? I had written a while back about Jay’s fussy food habits, and over the months he’s definitely improved. He will eat most of the food Desi and I eat, and while some biggies like mushrooms and broccoli still take some work, he enjoys most vegetables, especially greens. He has even learned to like most pasta, and will eat a PBJ or cereal without sitting on them for an hour the way he used to.
But while things are somewhat under control at home, school is another matter altogether. It looks like not a day goes by when a teacher does not hand out candy or Cheetos for reward, or another student hands out donuts for his or her birthday. Once, Jay got a Pizza Hut coupon as a prize for completing an assignment — he was thrilled, of course. Me, not so much. And don’t even get me started on school lunches — the best vegan option in our suburban D.C. school district is a salad, so we pack his lunch every day.
Since we’re venting about schools and their absolute lack of understanding of nutrition, how about all that meat that gets casually thrown into the process of educating the kids, huh? There are many young vegetarians out there today, but apparently our schools are the only ones who don’t know it. At Thanksgiving, Jay’s Saturday School teachers actually showed his class a video on cooking turkey. The other day, he informed me that all foods that have protein are animal foods, because a teacher said so. And one fine day, when he was in first grade, he came home with a sheet of homework that asked him what his favorite food was: chicken nuggets or a cheeseburger. With some guidance from Desi, my baffled and very vegetarian boy struck out the cheeseburger and replaced it with a veggie burger — which he does love.
I hope his teacher learned something that day.
And now, for those Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies.
- 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tbsp cornflour + 2 tbsp water
- 1/2 cup hazelnuts processed into a fairly fine powder
- 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 4 tbsp vegan "butter"
- 1/2 cup unrefined sugar like turbinado
- 1/2 cup semisweet vegan chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a spatula, mix the butter and sugar until well-blended.
- Add the vanilla extract, mix, then add the cornflour-water mix, flour, cacao powder, and baking powder. Mix until combined, and then stir in the chocolate chips.
- On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, drop 3/4-inch balls of dough at least an inch apart(don't worry too much about shaping them, just dropping them with a rounded spoon is fine, or use your fingers. The cookies will spread as they bake.)
- Place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for a couple of minutes, then, using a thin spatula, remove to a rack to cool.
- Eat.
If you have any school nutrition horror stories, I want to hear!
Wow!! These look amazing! Now I know what to do with those hazelnuts in the freezer! 😀 I adore your site and have tried so many of your recipes with great success! (I’m waiting to get my biryani masala in the mail to make the Vegetable biryani you recently posted!!). BTW, I make my 2 daughters lunch for school… every day, and they love it, so I know what you mean about school not getting it! Thank you, Vaishali.
Thanks for your kind words, Elizabeth! 🙂 Hope they turn out great for you.
thanks again. another winner.
Thanks, Margo!
Vaishali, these are making me drool and wishing I could be your neighbor! YUM!
Ambika, do stop by some day if you are in the neighborhood, and I’ll make them for you! 🙂
I can’t believe the school showed a video on how to cook a turkey to KIDS! That’s so bizarre!
I know! How bizarre is that? I couldn’t believe it either.
I made these cookies today within 10 minutes of coming across the recipe, and I am in love. Honestly, they are now my new favorite cookies. The chocolate-hazelnut combo is definitely addictive! I replaced the corn flour + water with a “traditional” flax egg, and added 1/4 tsp salt to the recipe. Thank you for another amazingly and simple recipe – in fact in was my first time baking as a mommy, with my 10 day old newborn in a carrier on my chest 🙂
Welcome to motherhood, Marie, and huge congratulations! 🙂 What a wonderful time for you! And I am so happy you tried the cookies– that combo really is addictive. Great idea with the flax egg, thanks for sharing.
Hi Vaishali. I don’t comment often as I want to but now you got me started. But before my rant, have to say I tried this recipe today as an after school snack for my child. Only had walnuts and used the bake function in my microwave/toaster oven. Still turned out great. Thanks. I came looking for your Sarson ki saag recipe 🙂
Now for my rant.. My child has been getting pizza hut coupons too from school since Kindergarten (every month in K) for accomplishing reading assignments! I had the exact same feeling as you. Though we include some dairy I was against those coupons for processed junk. I let him indulge just once. The public libraries have started to hand out coupons to a local burger joint to encourage reading! Also any school event has always involved in the school selling processed crap and soda.
I can go on and on about school lunches, breakfast, snacks etc. too. Last year, I tried out the school lunch for a few days due to some circumstance and was at the lunch benches when breakfast was served. I was horrified at the breakfast choices. Whole fruit was the only healthy option. Lunch for vegetarians was grilled cheese, salad, milk. The milk is not just plain milk. It was low fat with some crap added to it. For lunch once per week pizza was served. I asked my child how it was. I was told it was in a plastic bag and hot. I didn’t like the sound of it. I told my child to not eat it the next time it is served but to bring it home so I could see it. I was very upset. It looked disgusting, a small round piece of crap, still inside the plastic bag! So they just microwaved it in a plastic bag and served it? I decided right that moment that no matter the circumstance I would pack breakfast, lunch, snack as I had been doing before.
Then there was snack at the after-school program. Unhealthy snacks served as being healthy except for fruit. Same for snacks served before lunch in class. The teacher requested parents to help out with the snacks and the snacks in the given list was not what I would call healthy. Sure, candy was considered a no-no but the list included other processed junk.
My child had to stay more than 10 1/2 hours in school and after-school program for 3 years and I (with a lot of guilt) let him have the snacks in the after-school program so that he didn’t starve until he was picked up. So, I feel for the parents who have to rely on school meals for their kids due to their work schedules, financial situation etc. I have heard it being said that for some children the meals offered in schools are the only meals they get to eat. It makes me sad and angry since ultimately, it is the kid’s health that suffers as a result of these “nutritious” school meals while the big food corporations providing these foods make big bucks.
I read your rant and am compelled to reply. My ‘kids’ are now 44 (twins) so am not experiencing the same dilemma as you. I do however share your frustration and anger with the food industry overall and schools, fund raisers, and a lot of folks who just don’t get it. Eating processed ‘crap’ is just not acceptable. Adults are suffering but growing bodies need nutrients especially! What a vicious circle. It comes down to education. People like yourself with great blogs help. Keep up the good work. One person at a time does make a difference. Hopefully we will see some positive change and have a healthier future.
Thanks for the difference you make!
My kids are in love with these cookies. They are simply delicious.
Oh my goodness. I can’t wait to make there. They sounds soooo delicious! And I am anxious to give the cornflour mixture a try. It sounds like it will add a nice twist to the cookies 🙂 I do have a question about the amount of hazelnuts, though. Is it 1/2 cup of whole hazelnuts then ground into flour or 1/2 of hazelnuts after they have been ground into flour? I guess I can just play around and figure it out for myself, but I figured it would be easier to ask. Thanks!!!
Hi Sarah, half a cup of whole hazelnuts.
Excellent. Thanks! I’m going to make them this afternoon!!!