These delicious indulgent chocolate chip cookies are made using up the leftover nut pulp from making homemade hazelnut and sunflower seed milk. They're vegan and gluten-free and are a breeze to make!
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In an effort to stop spending ridiculous amounts of money on nut milks at the shops, I’ve started to make my own nut milks instead. This morning I made hazelnut and sunflower seed milk and, because I love hazelnuts and hate waste, I decided to try making some cookies with the leftover nut and seed pulp.
The result was an incredibly moreish snack with my morning coffee! I even feel a teensy bit virtuous eating my cookies knowing that I’m helping to avoid waste (ha ha!). The children came home from school and devoured the rest, so I guess that was a hit! So now to experiment with other nut milks and corresponding nut pulp recipes…
Ingredients
- Ground Flax Seeds (linseeds) - when mixed with water and left to sit for a few minutes, ground flax seeds become a gloopy mixture (a flax seed slurry as it's called) which acts like eggs in vegan baking. Flax seeds are also a fantastic source of omega-3 fats so they are a nutritious swap too!
- Coconut Oil - if you use extra virgin coconut oil then it doesn't have a coconutty flavour. If you don't like it though, you can use vegan butter instead.
- Vanilla Extract - when choosing vanilla flavouring, it is essential to use vanilla extract and NOT vanilla essence. Essentially, essence is synthetic flavouring whereas extract is natural flavouring. They are world's apart! (You can easily make your own vanilla extract if you can't find a good quality extract in the shops)
- Sugars - caster sugar and dark muscovado sugar - I use two different sugars because I like the mineral content of dark muscovado sugar but the caster sugar is much better for making the cookies more crisp.
- Hazelnut and Sunflower Seed Pulp from making hazelnut and sunflower seed milk (or substitute with nut pulp from making any other nut milk.)
- Brown Rice Flour - you can substitute with sorghum flour or a general gluten-free flour blend if you like.
- Baking Powder - if you are coeliac or severely intolerant to gluten, you need to make sure that you buy gluten-free baking powder as normal baking powders often have gluten in them.
- Salt - I use Himalayan pink salt which is mineral-rich and has a mild salty flavour.
- Chocolate Chips - if you are vegan or dairy-free, choose vegan chocolate chips.
Please see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for full list of ingredients and their quantities.
Basic Instructions
These cookies are so simple to make with any nut pulp you have leftover.
- First mix the ground flax seeds with water to make a flax seed slurry.
- After 10 minutes, beat the flax seed slurry into the coconut oil and vanilla extract in a stand mixer.
- After 2 minutes, add both the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes.
- Mix in the nut pulp, brown rice flour, salt, baking powder and chocolate chips.
- Spoon dollops onto a lined baking tray. Bake until golden-brown for 25-35 minutes (turning the oven temperature down half way through cooking).
This is a summary only. Please see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this page for full instructions.
Substitutions
Don't worry, if you haven’t made your own nut milk and so don’t have any nut pulp to use, you could substitute the pulp with hazelnut flour or almond flour. They will be just as tasty - but probably less economical!
If you have a good food processor, you could even make hazelnut flour (or any mixture of nuts and seeds) by whizzing the nuts in the food processor until it becomes a fine flour. (Be careful not to overmix as it will then start to clump together and become hazelnut butter instead!). It might need a little less cooking time because the mixture won't be as wet.
If you prefer other nuts, why not try out these 15 minute peanut butter cookies that are also super easy!
Hazelnut and Sunflower Seed Choc Chip Cookies FAQs
These cookies start off with 15 minutes at 180°C and then have 20 minutes at a cooler temperature of 160°C to make sure they are well cooked throughout.
I would check on the cookies 10 minutes before the full cooking time just in case they have cooked quicker than expected (all ovens vary slightly). If they are deep golden brown and bouncy as opposed to just soft, then take them out early.
Keep these cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Make sure that you cool the cookies completely before putting them in a container otherwise the condensation will make them go soggy.
📖 Recipe 📖
Hazelnut and Sunflower Seed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds (linseeds)
- 2 tablespoon water
- 70 g coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 60 g caster sugar
- 40 g dark muscovado sugar
- 200 g hazelnut and sunflower seed pulp, (or substitute hazelnut or almond flour)
- 50 g brown rice flour
- ⅐ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 50 g chocolate chips
Instructions
- Set the oven to 180°C (160°C Fan) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Mix the flax seeds with the water then set aside for 10 minutes to allow the mixture to go gloopy.
- Once the flax seed mixture has gone gloopy, beat it together with the coconut oil and vanilla extract in a stand mixer for 2 minutes until thick.
- Add the caster sugar and rapadura and continue beating for 2 more minutes.
- Add the nut pulp, brown rice flour, salt, baking powder and chocolate chips and beat on a medium speed until just mixed through (about 30 seconds).
- Spoon dollops of the mixture (about 1 tablespoon for each dollop) onto the lined baking tray.
- Put the tray into the oven and bake for 15 minutes @ 180°C (160°C Fan).
- Then turn the temperature down to 160°C (140°C Fan) and bake for 20 minutes more, until browned.
- Remove from the oven and put onto a wire rack to cool.
Notes
- If you do not have leftover nut pulp, you could substitute with hazelnut flour or the more widely available almond flour. See the blog post to get tips for making hazelnut flour.
- Check the cookies 10 minutes before the full cooking time to see if they are deep golden brown and, if they are, take them out early.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a ⭐ star rating ⭐ on the recipe card!
More Vegan and Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes
If you like this hazelnut and sunflower seed chocolate chip cookie recipe, you may like these other delicious vegan and gluten-free baking recipes too:
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