Vegan Cranberry and Orange Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies are decadent, moist, chewy, and bursting with flavor. Everything you could want and more. You definitely need a lot of oats for this recipe. You’ll need steel cut oats to give it texture, but also pulse about a cup of oats to form a smooth flour. Normally when using pulsed oats as a flour base for a recipe I would recommend sifting, but since the oats contribute a certain texture to these pillow of goodness there is no need for the sift.

The recipe calls for coconut oil, but you can also substitute for ghee or butter. The flax egg and maple syrup makes these cookies vegan, but you can definitely substitute for a real egg and/or honey if you are not vegan. The ratio for honey to maple syrup will remain the same. If you choose to use the flax egg and are not sure how to make one, here's how: combine 1 tablespoon of ground flax + 2.5 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Mix together well and then let sit in the fridge for 15 minutes. Do this before you start anything else!

The mix-ins for this recipe is the best part! You can honestly choose whatever please your fancy, but I chose cranberries, walnuts, and orange dark chocolate. Some of my favorite brands that carry this type of chocolate are: Theo, Chocolate XOXO, and HU Chocolate. I used Theo for this recipe and their Holiday collection of different chocolates is literally a pot of gold. They have a Gingerbread Spice Milk Chocolate that is straight crack and would pair perfectly with this recipe. I'm also not a milk chocolate person, but that one is irresistible.

1 cup quick oats

3/4 cup oat flour

3 tbsp coconut oil

1 flax egg

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1.5 tsp cinnamon

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

Mix-ins

1/4 cup chopped Theo brand orange infused dark chocolate

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Pulse 1 cup of oats in a blender then add those + the rolled oats to a big bowl. Add baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and sea salt and mix. In a separate bowl, add the flax egg (make sure it has formed into a jelly texture), maple syrup, vanilla. Meanwhile, microwave the coconut oil for 30 seconds and make sure it is completely liquid before adding to the bowl of liquid ingredients. This needs to go in last because if it sits out for too long, it will begin to harden and then won't distribute evenly within the batter. Pour the mixed wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and combine well to form a batter. The best part– fold in chopped chocolate, cranberries, and chopped walnuts. Roll dough into 20 separate balls, then bake for 20 minutes.

Let cool completely for about 30 minutes before removing, I know this part is hard! You can store them in your freezer if you don’t eat them all within 4 days, but I wouldn’t judge if you did… Enjoy and tag me @thevibrantfoodie if you try them out. Stay vibrant friends!

Cheers,

Lindsay