Chocolate Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies

Sometimes Ryan and I are so on the same page that it kind of freaks me out.  The other day I was thinking that it was about time to make a batch of cookies and I was going to surprise him with them.  That afternoon when we were walking Bella he said that we should bake cookies soon and I told him that I was already planning on it.  Since I've been baking a lot recently, I wanted to try a different kind of cookie than what we've made in the past, so I decided on a chocolate oatmeal cookie.  I looked up a few recipes and found 2 that I liked and tried to merge them.  The first batch turned out dry, crumbly, and just not good.  So the next day I made brownies and decided to tweak the cookie recipe and try again later.  This second batch turned out just the way I wanted them to.  By adding a little almond milk and tweaking the ratios of the other ingredients, I was able to create an amazing, gooey, brownie-like oatmeal cookie that's vegan & gluten free.  It's a good thing this recipe only makes 8-10 cookies because otherwise I would be eating way too many of them.

Total Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 8-10 Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup oats

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt + additional for topping

1 tbs canola oil

1/4 cup coconut sugar

3 tbs maple syrup

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbs chocolate chips

1/2 cup tahini

1/4 cup almond milk

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325° F
2. Combine the ingredients in a medium bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.
3. Scoop desired size dough and form into a ball.  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and flatten slightly.  Repeat with the rest of the dough (I like big cookies, so my batch was only 8 cookies, but you can make them smaller as well).
4. Sprinkle the top of the cookies with additional sea salt and bake for 9-11 minutes.
5. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Just look at that cookie.  It's so rich and gooey that you need some sea salt on the top to cut through the sweetness.  Trust me and salt them a little more than you think you need to.  You'll thank me.

I wanted these cookies to be thick and fluffy, so I made them large and baked them for 11 minutes.  If you want smaller cookies, you could make 10 of them and cook them for 9 or so minutes.  I was totally happy with how mine turned out though.