Happy New Year AND 2000 Views! Have a Cookie

Hello all, I hope you had a wonderful New Year, and are still feeling as terrible as I am! Today also calls for another reason to celebrate... The Global Hot Potato has just reached over 2000 views!!! What better way to celebrate than with an absolutely, mouth-wateringly indulgent vegan, dark chocolate cookie recipe?!?!

OK... So it's not perfect in terms of environment sustainability... Chocolate isn't locally sourced, neither is coconut oil... BUT... It's a hell of a lot more environmentally friendly than buying chocolate bars or pre-packaged sweets... It's also cheaper in the long run, and more rewarding! I encourage you to select fair trade ingredients only! And no dairy products included, which gives us extra brownie points...


Vegan, Dark Chocolate Cookie Recipe

Ingredients
(makes ~20)

110 g (or 1/2 cup) coconuit oil
100 g (or 1 cup) soft (light) brown sugar
50 ml (or 1/4 cup) almond/soy milk (water if neither)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
250 g (or 2 cup) plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
120 - 150 g (1 cup) dark chocolate (chopped) - check to see if it contains milk products!!

Additional:
Baking parchment

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 180C/160C (fan oven) or 350F/320F (fan oven)
2. Mix the coconut oil and brown sugar together in a large bowl until creamed.
3. Now add the almond milk and vanilla extract, until mixed well. The mixture should be quite wet.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour with the baking soda and baking powder.
5. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet one, until well combined. After this, add in the roughly chopped chocolate chips, and any other additions of your choice (e.g. hazelnuts, cinnamon, fruit, etc.) and mix together.
6. Use a tablespoon to scoop out balls from the mixture, roll them in your hands gently to form a sphere, and then place them on baking parchment (on a tray). Then, flatten the balls with your hands, and ensure there is a lot of distance between each one. (I do about 3 batches with 2 separate baking trays - each with 5 cookies on).
7. Bake for about 10 mins - check after 7 to see how they're doing. Ensure that they're not too squishy before taking out. Sometimes my cookies needed 15 mins - use your judgement! (REMEMBER: cookies will harden when removed from the oven, so don't over-bake!!!)
8. ENJOY! :)

A Quick Thank You!!

Dear Beloved Audience,

I just wanted to say a massive THANK YOU to all you lovely people, as The Global Hot Potato has just reached 1000 views!! You guys are truly amazing! Thank you for reading, liking, sharing, commenting, and asking great questions. You've continuously helped me build confidence in writing again, as well as keeping me constantly interested and engaged with my work (and often questioning my values). I hope you are enjoying the experience as much as I am!

Additionally, I'd like to say an even BIGGER thank you to one reader in particular, whose incredibly kind offer to create artwork for my page has taken my blog to the NEXT LEVEL OF UNBELIEVABLE AWESOMENESS. So massive thank you, Josh Tuesley. You are both a wonderful friend and illustrator.

Please check out his Facebook page: Cerebellublob, where you can admire, request and purchase some of his fantastic artwork all for yourselves!! (Seriously, doooo it)

Apologies for my digression. I'm sure you can tell that I was too excited to hold it in...

I will be back in the next couple of days, looking at the the impact meat production has on the environment from a modeller's perspective. Don't forget to follow me on twitter @chlobular

Lots of love,
Chloe
x