Vegan Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yes, you can bake our double chocolate chip cookies as gluten-free with a few considerations and changes to the ingredients. First, replace the plain flour with a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend.

Look for a blend that's designed to be a 1:1 substitution for regular flour. These blends typically contain a mix of rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, and sometimes xanthan gum, which helps to mimic the texture of gluten. If your gluten-free flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum, consider adding a small amount - about ¼ teaspoon - to your recipe. Xanthan gum helps to bind the ingredients and improve the texture of the cookies.

Also, as gluten-free doughs can sometimes be more crumbly or sticky than their wheat-based dough, if your dough seems too dry, add a little more plant-based milk and if it's too sticky, add a little bit more flour. The dough should be able to be picked up with your hands without sticking too much.

You will also need to ensure that your baking powder is certified as gluten-free and check your cocoa powder and chocolate chips or bar just in case of any gluten ingredients.

Other considerations, is that gluten-free cookies may require a slightly different baking time so keep a close eye on them and look for the edges to firm up and the centers to set. Also, gluten-free cookies might have a slightly different texture than those made with regular flour as they can be a bit more fragile or crumbly, but they will still be delicious.

Gluten-free baking, especially converting wheat based recipes, can be a bit of an experiment, as different flour blends can behave differently. But don’t be discouraged if your first batch isn’t perfect as adjustments in moisture [such as the plant-based milk] or baking times might be needed and the 'failed' batch will still be very delicious and can be crumbled over desserts such as a bowl of vegan ice-cream!

Yes, you can definitely freeze the cookie dough for later and this is the perfect way to enjoy a warm just-baked cookie whenever you feel like it. It's also ideal if you don't need the whole batch all-at-once or won't be able to eat them all.
Here's a rough guide:

1. Make up your cookie dough as per the recipe instructions.
2. Use an ice cream scoop or tablespoon to portion out the dough into individual cookie sizes. This makes it easier to bake them directly from frozen.
3. Place the portioned dough balls on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Make sure they’re not touching each other. Freeze them until they are firm, which usually takes about 1-2 hours.
4. Once the dough balls are firm, transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container. Label the bag with the date so you can keep track of how long they’ve been in the freezer.
5. When you're ready to bake, you don't need to thaw the cookie dough. Preheat your oven as per the recipe, and place the frozen cookie dough balls on a baking tray. You will likely need to add a few extra minutes to the baking time since the dough is frozen.
6. The frozen cookie dough can be stored in the freezer for about 3-4 months. This gives you the flexibility to bake just a few cookies at a time or a full batch whenever you fancy.

Yes, our cookie recipe is a small-batch recipe as it prepares 10-11 cookies but each cookie is large and chunky. However, we have doubled up the recipe many times and baked 22 cookies, especially for our kid's school home-bake fundraising sales, and they are very popular and are guaranteed to sell out very quickly! So if you prefer a larger batch of cookies then simply double the ingredients.

Yes, the golden syrup can be easily substituted with brown rice syrup, date syrup, light molasses, agave syrup or maple syrup.

Coffee powder or coffee granules added to chocolate cookie dough intensifies the flavour of chocolate and gives a richer more complex taste. Although the flavour of actual coffee is not a prominent one rather it melds with the chocolate to create a subtle mocha flavour. So even if you are not a fan of coffee a little bit used in baking or even cooking can add a flavour boost so it is worth adding.

Yes, if preferred you can leave out the coffee powder and perhaps sub it for some vegan-friendly instant hot chocolate powder or chocolate milkshake powder. Alternatively, a vegan malt powder such as Horlicks vegan malted drink powder can be used and this will lend interesting malty flavours to the chocolate cookies.

Any type of instant coffee powder that is fine textured similar to flour or powdered sugar are great for cookie dough. An espresso instant coffee powder is the perfect choice.

Although, we do often use instant coffee granules for this cookie recipe and those work just fine added directly to the cookie dough.

However, do not use filtered fresh coffee powder the kind intended for using with a coffee filter, coffee peculator, coffee machine etc, as this type of coffee is not instant.

Some margarines depending on their ingredients [i.e. low fat] and temperature when mixing [i.e too cold] may split or curdle when mixed with other ingredients. When the different ingredients try to emulsify or blend together they may not be able to and so take on a curdled appearance. However, this does not mean that the bake is ruined as when flour or other dry ingredients are combined with the wet mixture, the cake or cookie mixture will often come together. Thankfully, the end bake is not affected by the ingredients splitting.

Dark chocolate is a type of chocolate that contains a higher proportion of cocoa solids and cocoa butter than milk chocolate, and it usually has less sugar. Unlike milk chocolate, dark chocolate doesn't contain any milk solids so this gives the chocolate a richer, more intense chocolate flavour, and a firmer texture.

The cocoa content in dark chocolate can vary greatly - typically ranging from 50% to over 90%. The higher the cocoa percentage, the less sweet and more bitter the chocolate will be.

Many dark chocolate brands, including supermarkets and stores own brands, may not be labelled vegan but still contain vegan-friendly ingredients. Some dairy ingredients to look out for include - milk fat, milk solids, butter oil or anhydrous milk fat, lactose, casein or whey.

Semi-sweet is a term more commonly used in the United States to describe a type of dark chocolate. Semi-sweet chocolate typically contains around 40-60% cocoa solids and is a popular choice for baking such as chocolate chip cookies.
Outwith the US, chocolate with a similar cocoa content might simply be labeled as "dark chocolate" without the label of semi-sweet.

Yes, you can replace the dark or semi-sweet chocolate with any type of vegan or vegan-friendly dairy-free chocolate. We have used dark chocolate bars that are flavoured with mint, orange, raspberry, and salted Caramel - and just sliced those up into smaller pieces. We also like using dairy-free white chocolate.

One of our favourite cookie chocolate combinations was using a bar of Wicked Kitchen Salted Caramel chocolate and Tesco Free From White Choc Buttons to create vegan double chocolate salted caramel and white chocolate cookies.

Image below: A batch of home-baked vegan double chocolate salted caramel and white chocolate cookies cooling on a cooling rack. To see a photo of the insides of these cookies scroll down below the FAQ section!

Yes, there are different types of cocoa powder, and they vary mainly in their processing methods and flavour profiles.

1. Natural Cocoa Powder: This type is made from cocoa beans that are roasted, ground, and then processed to remove about three-quarters of their fat (cocoa butter). The resulting cocoa solids are then ground into a fine powder. Natural cocoa powder is acidic and has a rich chocolate flavour and lighter in colour compared to other cocoa powders such as Dutch-process cocoa. In recipes that call for bicarbonate of soda [baking soda], natural cocoa powder is often used, as the soda's alkalinity reacts with the cocoa's acidity to help with the leavening effect.

2. Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder: Also known as alkalized cocoa, Dutch-process cocoa powder is treated with an alkali to neutralize its acids. This process makes the cocoa powder darker, smoother, and more mellow in flavour. It's often used in recipes that call for baking powder, which doesn't require the acidity in natural cocoa powder to react. Dutch-process cocoa is sometimes preferred for its rich colour and smooth flavour in desserts that don't require a leavening reaction.

3. Black Cocoa Powder: This is a heavily Dutch-ed cocoa powder and is extremely dark but has a very mellow flavour, often compared to the taste of Oreo cookies. It's used in recipes where a deep, dark colour and a unique chocolate flavour is preferred.

Any type of cocoa powder that you can source from the baking aisle of your local supermarket or grocery store is fine for our chocolate cookies. We used Dr Oetker Fine dark cocoa powder which is prepared with 100% cocoa solids and is intended for baking.

Yes you can use cacao powder as a substitute for cocoa powder for our chocolate cookies but do keep in mind that cacao powder is less processed and so has a more intense, bitter flavour, so the cookies may be less sweet. It also contains more fat, which could slightly alter the texture of your cookies, possibly making them denser or fudgier.

Absolutely! Warm chocolate cookies are just the best treat especially during the holiday and festive seasons. Once the just-baked cookies have firmed up enough to be able to be picked up they can be eaten or perhaps crumble a hot chocolate cookie over a bowl of plant-based ice-cream. Baking your own batch of home-made chocolate cookies is a budget-friendly way to enjoy supermarket bakery cookies, deli cookies, or copy-cat Subway cookies at home.