These Chunky Vegan Chocolate Chip + Pretzel Cookies are nothing short of amazing! They provide a great balance of salty + sweet from the marrying of the chocolate chips and pretzel pieces. In addition, the use of applesauce (Yes, you read it right!) give these cookies a nice chewiness, softness, + gooeyness that will leave you wanting just one more cookie (or maybe 2 or 3! Haha!).
This recipe has ended the week off to a great start! I’m super excited for the weekend and this surely tops things off. I’ve decided to challenge myself going forward, by solely making vegan desserts for my blog. YES! All vegan Goodness from now on! I find that veganism has gained fair popularity these days and I’d love to prove that you don’t have to eat EVERYTHING to have the best flavors and dishes! In fact, clean eating has been my focus for the past few months and while my diet does not consist of solely vegan food, I do still incorporate such ingredients and what better way to do so than with desserts for you guys to see, right? But don’t worry! Like this recipe, you will not see a shortage of flavor and fun in the dishes to come. Also, with the holidays coming up, I’m so excited to create some really amazing sweet treats that will surely put you in the holiday spirit.
Anyway, this week has been a pretty busy one. With work being a bit crazy, my son’s appointments, doing minor tweaks to my blog, putting the finishing touches on a major collab (to be announced soon!), etc, I’m really ready for the weekend, Ya’ll! Anyone with me? Haha!
Some excitement however, came this week from me FINALLY investing in a Canon Camera for my food photos. I’ve been using my iPhone 7 plus for most of my photos and while it takes amazing shots, I found that it was time to invest in a professional camera. It’s definitely going to take some getting use to, but I’m really happy about taking this leap of faith to ensure that my blog only improves from here. I also currently purchased a few props from Crate + Barrel which is one of my favorite stores! I definitely recommend checking it out. Plus, if you don’t want to spend TOO much, you can always peek at their Clearance section, just as an FYI. While I still have a few more small things to purchase, I’m really making some great progress with taking better quality photos (very important for a Food blog, of course!).
Back to this recipe—-I’m loving the fact that I had about 4 cookies (or maybe more!) since baking these a few hours ago (haha!) and I don’t feel guilty because they’re vegan! Yippeee!
And to my surprise, I finally mastered a cookie recipe to my standard of perfection for the very first time. Yes, I’ve done cookies before, however, I never really felt that these are my favorite!
You can still check out my other Cookie recipes if you’re curious:
Healthy Oatmeal Carrot Cake Cookies
Blueberry Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies + Lemon Glaze
The baking time is super fast (literally 9-10 minutes) and you can hintly taste the coconut oil that is used in this recipe. Trust me, it’s definitely a pleasant taste! To be honest, I was never really a huge fan of the taste of coconut oil in the past, however, I’ve since grown to love it! I believe that it depends on the ingredients used with it.
Choosing to add pretzel pieces was completely random, but such a “genius” choice. Although it’s not entirely visible once the cookie is baked, you do get a lot of crunch from the pretzel pieces which are generously in every bite, including on top of the cookie. Your taste buds will thank you!
I’m not one who cares about perfectly round cookies. I love my cookies to have a little imperfection to them. Plus, the more chunky, the better!
Can you tell that I couldn’t wait to test one out in between takes? Haha.
Chunky Vegan Chocolate Chip + Pretzel Cookies
These Chunky Vegan Chocolate Chip + Pretzel Cookies are nothing short of amazing! They provide a great balance of salty + sweet from the marrying of the chocolate chips and pretzel pieces. In addition, the use of applesauce (Yes, you read it right!) give these cookies a nice chewiness, softness, + gooeyness that will leave you wanting just one more cookie (or maybe 2 or 3! Haha!).
Must-Haves:
- 2 1/4 cup Organic all-purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
- 1 1/4 cup organic brown sugar (Sugar in the Raw is Vegan approved!)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup coconut milk (I used So Delicious!)
- 1/4 cup organic applesauce (I used my son's Earth Best brand)
- 2 cups Vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup pretzels, chopped
Instructions:
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, brown sugar, and vanilla extract until well combined (I chose not to use an electric blender to avoid over beating; whisk instead!).
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Add in the coconut milk and applesauce and whisk until well combined; set aside.
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In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and sea salt and whisk until combined.
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Add the dry ingredients with the wet mixture, using a very sturdy spatula and stir until ingredients are combined and the batter becomes thick.
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Fold in the chopped pretzels and then 1 and 3/4 cups of the chocolate chips.
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Scoop 1 1/2 "ice cream scoops" (OR 3 Tbsps) of the cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, leaving a few inches between each cookie for spreading when they bake.
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Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the centers have set.
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Remove from oven and press remaining chocolate chips on top of warm cookies and add additional pretzel pieces, if desired.
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Cool cookies on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to fully cool before storing in an air tight container.
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Serve with a small glass of coconut milk (for dunking, of course!) and Bon Appetite!
leah says
September 29, 2017 at 1:45 PMOh my goodness those look amazing!
Shanika says
September 30, 2017 at 12:56 AMThanks so much Leah! They were really amazing!:-)
Kate | High Low Baby says
September 29, 2017 at 1:58 PMMy husband would love these! Pretzels and chocolate are always a win at our house.
Shanika says
September 30, 2017 at 12:57 AMHi Kate! I actually didn’t know that pretzels and chocolate were so amazing! I can see why you guys love them! 🙂
Dada says
September 29, 2017 at 2:29 PMAhhh this is cookie heaven! I wish I never clicked your post because now I am forced to bake those! Arggh! But never mind its weekend and we need to celebrate it with something yummy! Thank you just saved my weekend!
Shanika says
September 30, 2017 at 12:58 AMHi Dada! Haha! Yes, it’s always the best to have a little something sweet to celebrate the weekend! Be sure to let me know what you think once you do give them a try! 🙂
Tavia says
September 30, 2017 at 1:06 AMWooowwwww GIVE ME RIGHT NOW! These would pair nicely with my red wine! #momlife
Shanika says
October 2, 2017 at 6:28 PMHi Tavia! Haha! I bet that this would go great with wine! I do hope that you get a chance to give it a try and be sure to let me know what you think!
Rhonda Sittig says
October 2, 2017 at 12:00 AMHI Shanika– your photos do look great! congrats on the new camera! Those fancy cameras have always seemed intimidating to me– did you take lessons to use it or are just learning as you go?? And these cookies look terrific– wish I could reach in the screen and grab a handful!! How has your weekend gone?? (besides cookie baking ??) hugs hugs!
Shanika says
October 2, 2017 at 6:31 PMHi Rhonda! Thanks so much! I’ve been dying to get a new camera for sometime now, so I’m super excited that I finally took the leap of faith and invested in it! I definitely have no clue on how to function DSL cameras either. My husband has actually been my “photographer”. Team work makes the dream work! Haha! But his technical skills makes him the perfect person to master this new camera so I’m happy! Also, my weekend was great! I had my son’s God-sisters over and then spent my Sunday relaxing and working remotely for a few hours. It was pretty chilly here in NYC, so we were indoors. How was your weekend? Wishing you a great week ahead! Hugs + more hugs! Xx, S.
Erin says
October 2, 2017 at 2:17 AMLove this recipe!! And I love the extra touch of the added crunch. Thanks so much for sharing!
Shanika says
October 2, 2017 at 6:27 PMHi Erin! Thanks so much! The added crunch definitely created more of an addiction! Haha! I do hope that you get a chance to try this recipe! 🙂