i'd rather be baking

Before moving to Utah, I dreamed of living in a real-life city with a real-life Whole Foods. It’s still hard for me to believe that there are no less than four within a thirty-mile radius of my house. I frequent the one nearest me about once a week, sometimes just for fun.

I’ve become addicted to Whole Foods’ Vegan Everything Cookies. They are now, hands down, my favorite cookie, which is saying something. I’ve eaten a lot of cookies in my day.

These cookies are crisp around the edges and wonderfully soft in the middle. They’re moist and jam-packed with chocolate-y goodness, and yet not overly sugary. And the fact that they’re vegan makes me feel better about eating them, which always helps.

Needless to say, I’ve been antsy to figure them out for some time now and today I couldn’t wait any longer. I crawled out of bed this morning hungry and armed with several vegan cookie recipes. And I came pretty close.

I’ll definitely keep working on these cookies until I reach Whole Foods-level perfection, but these are pretty dang good. In fact, they make me wish I had little ones to feed them to. Feed some to yours for me, will you?

Vegan Everything Cookies
Adapted from Peas and Thank You

Makes 24 small cookies or 12 large ones

1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tteaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup organic sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup non-dairy or organic milk or yogurt
1/4 cup organic raisins
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup flaked unsweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir together all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Spoon onto an ungreased baking sheet (I like parchment paper on mine), about an inch apart. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes, until edges are brown and set. Cool for about a minute before transferring cookies to a wire rack and cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

High-Altitude Notes: Reduce baking powder to 1 1/2 tsp and bake at 375°F.