A Tale of Two Aunts (PB Choco Madness)

Happy Birthday to my fashion-forward Aunt B!

I did not make these cookies for her, though.  I made them for my Aunt A’s birthday last year.  Since both of them like chocolate, these cookies would be appropriate for either.

“Last year, Q?” you say.  “WTFBBQ?”  When I made them in 2011, I was blogging in my head.  I took it as a sign that I needed to be writing more in general since I was narrating my cooking in my head.  Turns out that was just a case of the school-confidence-killing-willies.  After my former coworker Carol posted these delicious-looking cookies, posing the question, "What's better than peanut butter chocolate chip cookies?"

Peanut butter chocolate chocolate chip cookies, if you like both pb and chocolate.


I made these cookies I think four times now.  I made them twice with whole wheat flour in 2010-early 2011.  I think I gave away the last of the early 2011 batch because I knew by that point I was having gluten issues.  Those cookies also had a case of the vapo-raisins because I was baking them in the—for once—super hot Pyne Hall oven while a dorm-mate was roasting a turkey leg (or was that on another occasion?).  Second time I made them GF was for a Rutgers-Navy football tailgate and they are tailgate-approved.

Note the standard-issue slate grey dorm desk and nearby breakfast-making implements.

PB Choco Madness Cookies
Modified from: Peloza, Kelly, “Giant Bakery-Style Double Chocolate Cookies,” in Vegan Cookie Connoisseur (New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2010), 78.

1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used soy or almond)

1/4 cup non-dairy milk (yep, more of it)
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup teff flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
dash salt
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup craisins
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  
In a small glass bowl, melt the chocolate and soymilk by microwaving for 30-second intervals and stirring after every interval.  

In a large measuring cup or a blender, mix together the remaining wet ingredients.  

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.  

Add the melted chocolate mixture to the wet ingredients and mix or blend well.  

Add wet to dry and fold in the chunks (watch for dry spots with the teff).  Use a 2-tablespoon scoop to make balls of dough on the sheets.  Flatten slightly with fork dipped in water after each pat. Bake for 13 minutes or until browned on the bottom and the centres spring back when touched.  Remove from the oven and cool on sheets for five minutes then transfer to rack to cool completely.  Makes 38-40 cookies.

Xocolatl wants some chocolate cookies!
I can tell I intended to blog about this because I took pictures during assembly, and I don't normally do that since it's inconvenient to my cooking workflow, yo.  The chocolate-peanut butter-oil-nondairy milk mixture smelled so good that I wouldn't mind eating it (though I didn't).

I originally made these cookies with Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour, but they tasted chickpea-y when warm.  I have not tested the mixture above, but, having used similar ratios of the above flours in other recipes, I’m confident it would work.  Edit 02/09/2013: chickpea flour has a "taste." Please do not use the Bob's AP GF blend or chickpea flour if you notice its taste in your baked goods because it will make these cookies weird.

Though one should never apologise for their creative work, I apologise for the Hungry Girl-esque name.  I used to subscribe to her [Lisa Lillien’s] email newsletter.  However, I found sometimes the language could be a trigger for relapse for a person dealing with disordered eating, and I stopped my subscription.  These cookies were adapted from the ever-awesome Kelly Peloza whose Vegan Cookie Connoisseur I pre-ordered from Amazon months before it was published; her fun and tasty ideas justify being a vegan cookie groupie (or junkie, but they’re not junk food!).