Double Chocolate Vegan Almond 'Flour' Cookies

I am forever experimenting with the leftover almond pulp from making almond milk. Today I was really in a chocolate frame of mind and had some overripe bananas on the counter, so I made these little treats.

While I use 'wet' almond pulp in lots of recipes, it can sometimes be nice to dry it and grind it into flour. To dry the pulp, you can use a dehydrator or put your oven on the lowest setting and spread the pulp on a cookie sheet. Dry it out for about an hour or so, or until it is crisp. Let it cool, then whizz it in a blender or food processor to make flour. The flour will keep in your cupboard in an airtight container for a month or two and it's fibre-licious! A cup of almonds makes a cup of flour, more or less.






 Double Chocolate Vegan Almond 'Flour' Cookies

1 cup of almond flour
2 tbsp ground flax seed
1/4 cup cocoa or cacao powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tbsp vanilla
1 overripe banana, mashed
1/3 cup almond milk
1/3 cup oil - I used canola but you could use (melted) coconut oil or grapeseed oil
3 tbsp agave syrup

about 30 g of chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (I used half a 60 g bar of stevia-sweetened chocolate I found at Shoppers Drug Mart!)
1 big handful of nuts (I used pecans), optional

Preheat the oven to 325. In one bowl, combine the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. In another, combine the remaining ingredients. Add wet to dry and mix until combined. Let sit a minute for the coconut flour to thicken the mixture slightly. Spoon onto a cookie sheet and top each cookie with chocolate pieces. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until cookies are soft but set in the middle. Let cool at least a few minutes before removing from the pan.

Makes about 6 large or 9 medium-large cookies which will satisfy even the most hardcore chocolate cravings!