Vegan chocolate chip cookies with caramelised hazelnuts

Chocolate chip cookies are addictive! If I want to make something delicious, I’ll very likely bake cookies. If I want to brighten somebody else’s day, I’ll surely bake chocolate chip cookies! The reason is, what’s more comforting than bitting a soft cookie with chocolate chips and traces of caramelised hazelnuts? It’s a combo made in heaven. I absolutely adore it.

Whenever I see ripe bananas the image that comes to my mind is banana bread. However, we've had our fair share of banana bread lately. Then I thought, "oh wait it's been a while I don't make cookies..." I've made plain banana-oaty cookies before and... Well, that's a definitely healthier combo than the ol' classic chocolate chip cookie but... It's sort of boring. Ald mild. It doesn't tell me much: you can taste bananas and oats, and maybe some cinnamon and vanilla.

So I started looking around my kitchen pantry, and around my nut bowl. And boom, I found caramelised hazelnuts and dehydrated coconut. I always have baking black chocolate in hand, so that was it. These cookies are ridiculously full of flavour, sort of cakey and almost juicy, and the best part is that they are vegan and gluten-free.

Their secret? Butter. But not any butter. Almond butter! I make my own almond butter, which I keep in the fridge. It stays for up 2-3 weeks and it's a clear winner in salad dressings and baking, or simply spread on bread. The colour of these cookies is darker because of my almond butter, which is dark brown. The reason why I barely added any sugar is because of the ripe bananas AND the caramelised hazelnuts. In my opinion, that's enough richness, but I added two tablespoons of raw cane sugar for more flavour. I have to say, I absolutely have 0 regrets about adding those two extra tablespoons. However, it would be omitted and the cookies would be rich anyway.

Another reason to make these? This recipe only requires one bowl. Yep, that's right 😄 Simple and convenient. Let me know how they turn out if you make these, or use the hashtag #kanelafinarecipes in Instagram so I can share your pictures :)

Vegan chocolate chip cookies with pralined hazelnuts

Yields: 7 cookies

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas

2 tablespoons of almond butter

1 cup dehydrated coconut

1 and 1/2 cup oats

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of clove

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup Pralined hazelnuts

1/3 cup chocolate chips

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180'C and foil a baking pan with parchment paper.

2. In a bowl, mash the bananas with a fork or a potato masher. If the bananas were in the fridge, heat them for 1 minute in the microwave.

3. Add the almond butter and mix well, stir until the mixture is brownish in colour and no big chunks are visible.

4. Add the oats, the dehydrated coconut, baking soda, cinnamon, clove, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Stir until all is uniformly mixed.

5. Now add the chocolate chips and the pralined hazelnuts, combine well. The texture shouldn't feel sticky, but somewhere between crumbly and wet.

6. With an ice-cream scoop, distribute the dough and roughly shape it into a cookie-shape. The cookies will slightly expand in the oven.

7. Bake for 25 minutes 🕓

8. Once baked, place the cookies on a cooling rack and let them cool down for 1 hour 🍪

9. Enjoy 🌈

Bon appétit!