Vegan Chocolate Chip Corn Cookies (with a gluten-free option!)

In my cheese drawer right now I have a half eaten block of fancy gruyere (that’s the snacking cheese I eat in the morning while my coffee brews… I dunno), there’s a bag of shredded cheddar cheese for impromptu nachos, and there’s a bag of vegan jalapeno jack cheese that make my favorite grilled cheese sandwiches.  I like options, you know? 

I can’t even tell you about the collection of spelt, rye, and brown rice flours I have in the pantry (meticulously labeled with packing take). I’m not vegan or wholly gluten-free but I like to dabble in it all because there’s fun with flavor and texture everywhere.  

Today’s cookie are corn, lime, and chocolate and we’ll play with both gluten-free and vegan options.  They’re playful and comforting and if you’re keeping track, these cookies have vegetables in them so enjoy them accordingly.  Ok ok corn kernels are maybe a grain but let’s just go with the vegetable idea because it sounds more cheeky. 

Today’s vegan cookie recipe is from our friend Lauren Toyota. I came across Lauren’s fine food through my friend Timothy of Mississippi Vegan. Vegan or not, Lauren’s food is GOOD, heart-filling, comforting and celebratory. She has loads of recipes on Hot For Food, an incredible YouTube channel and of course, her latest book Hot For Food All Day.  

These cookies are just a sampling from her beautiful book and I took a few liberties in making a gluten-free version so I could overindulge if I wanted to…. and I wanted to. 

Here’s what you’ll need for these sweetie vegan cookies.

•  Cold vegan butter (I used Earth Balance). The joy here is that we don’t need to remember to bring our butter to room temperature! If you’re not interested in vegan cookies, can you make these cookies with cow’s milk butter? Of course! 

•  Frozen corn kernels and cornmeal for sweetness and a hint of chewy crunch. 

•  Brown sugar and granulated sugar. Vanilla extract because we’re baking. 

•  Baking soda and baking powder. Salt too, of course.

•  Lime zest to add a hint of zippy brightness to the chocolate and corn. 

•  Wheat flour or a gluten-free flour blend, depending on your preference.  

•  Flax seeds for binding if you’re making the gluten-free version.  

It always feels a little kooky to me, but we’re making this cookie batter in a food processor.  

We’ll start by blitzing the frozen corn kernels to bits.  Not puree, but smaller corn bits. 

Add the sugars, cold butter chunks, and vanilla extract and blitz until well combined and the mixture starts to form clumps around the blade.  

Add the flour, leavening, lime zest, and cornmeal and whirl until the dough just starts to bind around the blade.  

I find it easiest to transfer the dough to a larger bowl to stir in the vegan chocolate chips.  

Scoop into tablespoonful balls and give them enough space to spread on a parchment lined baking sheet.  

The cookie dough can be baked right after the dough is mixed.  The cookies flatten a bit (see below) but have a nice crunch along the edges and chew around the center. 

You can also refrigerate the dough for an hour or overnight and bake from chilled. The cookies will be a bit thicker in this instance. 

Crisp and chewy with a hint of corn sweetness! 

The corn feels like a play on Christina Tosi’s Milkbar cookies without the fuss (though I respect it) of a Milkbar cookie.  

We’ll make the gluten-free version of these vegan cookies just the same way – in a food processor with blitzed frozen corn.  

The only difference is that we’ll add a flax egg to help the gluten-free flour blend bind the cookies. 

Either blend flax seed meal and combine with water to make a flax seed egg like the recipe here indicates OR you could just toss whole flax seeds and water into the dough for a more rustic flax feel. 

Add vegan chocolate chips to the gluten-free batter and stir until evenly combined.  

Bake until just barely golden around the edges and lightly domed across the top.  

I just adore these cookie bites.  They have a little twist combined with a lot of classic chocolate chip cookie comfort. 

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