These vegan orange chocolate and almond cookies are a Christmas variation on a nut-based vegan cookie recipe that’s simple and foolproof.
Using orange flavoured chocolate as well as orange zest ensures that the flavour permeates the whole biscuit and gives them a lovely fragrance.
These are cookies with a firm crunch, ideal for dunking, and they store very well. For slightly softer, more chewy cookies, you could take them out of the oven earlier.
Chopped almonds will work just as well as flaked almonds, depending on what you have to hand.
The quantities here will make twenty-four medium-sized cookies around 6.5 cm in diameter.
orange chocolate and almond cookies…
Ingredients
- 50 g ground almonds
- 50 g flaked (or chopped) almonds
- zest of one orange
- 60 g dark orange-flavoured chocolate
- 200 g white/unbleached self-raising flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 100 g light muscovado sugar
- 80 g mild/flavourless coconut oil
- 80 ml maple syrup
Method
- Set the oven to 180°C/360°F and lightly oil or line a large biscuit tray (or two smaller trays) with baking parchment.
- Warm the syrup a little in the microwave and stir in the coconut oil to allow it to soften. It does not have to be entirely transparent as long as it’s runny. (If it’s too warm it will melt the chocolate.)
- Place the ground almonds, flaked almonds and orange zest in a large bowl.
- Sift the flour, cinnamon and bicarbonate of soda into the almonds and whisk or stir to ensure everything’s evenly distributed.
- Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring as you go.
- Once it is mostly combined, add the chopped orange chocolate and mix a little more to create a thick, slightly sticky dough with chocolate chunks throughout.
- Roll the dough into balls around 2.5cm in diameter and place these on the tray with room to spread.
- Press each cookie lightly with the back of a spoon to flatten it a bit before baking for 12 to 15 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool and crisp up before eating/storing.
For another variation on this recipe, please see my Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies.
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