rants & recipes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp rice syrup or agave nectar
• 1 tbsp molasses
• 1 ener-g, prepared
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups unbleached flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder or carob powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• pinch or two of instant coffee (optional)
• 1 cup vegan chocolate chips or carob chips
• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In large mixing bowl, cream together Earth Balance, sugar, syrup, and molasses.
3. Add ener-g and vanilla, and mix together until smooth.
4. In another bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, salt, coffee and baking powder.
5. Combine dry mix with wet, to form a dough.
6. Work in chips and nuts.
7. Form 1 inch balls, place on cookie sheets, flatten slightly.
8. Bake 8 - 12 minutes, cool on cookie sheets for 10 minutes, then move to racks to cool.

Notes:

• Because they're dark, these cookies can over-cook easily - you don't get to see the normal browning. Watch them closely.
• These were a little too sweet for me, especially with agave nectar. Next time, I will slightly decrease the sugar, and maybe increase the cocoa.
• This forms a stiff dough - I usually break out a latex-free glove for forming the dough by hand without having to add more liquid.