Prep Time 10 minutes
Cooking Time 15 minutes
Yields 1 dozen cookies
Ingredients
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds (flax meal)
3 tablespoons water
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup gluten-free rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup mini non-dairy chocolate chips (Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips are vegan)
1/2 cup natural smooth peanut butter (substitute for natural almond butter or any other natural nut butter of your choice)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Add the ground flax and water to a medium bowl, and whisk until combined. Set aside.
To a large bowl, add the coconut, rolled oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips. Stir to combine.
To the same bowl as the flax mixture, add the peanut butter, vanilla, and maple syrup. Stir until smooth. The mixture will be very thick.
Using a spatula, scoop the wet mixture on top of the dry ingredients, and stir until thoroughly combined. The batter will be very dry at first, but this is normal! You'll need to put some elbow grease into stirring, use your hands to mix all ingredients together and avoid any dry lumps. If for some reason your dough is still too dry to shape into balls, add a teaspoon of water and mix again.
Lightly wet your hands (shaking off excess water) and form about 12 balls, just smaller than golf balls. Stop and rinse off sticky hands as needed. Place each ball onto the prepared baking sheet about 2 to 3 inches apart. Gently press down on each ball to flatten into a 1-cm (just less than 1/2-inch) thick disc. If there are any leftover chocolate chips in the bottom of the bowl, scoop them up and push them into the tops of the cookies.
Bake for 8 to 15 minutes. The cookies tend to only spread out a little. They'll be delicate coming out of the oven, but they will firm up as they cool. The bottoms will be golden. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a cooling rack until completely cooled. Once cooled, the cookies will remain soft and chewy. Store leftovers in an airtight container or freezer bag in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Enjoy!
