Decadent Dark Chocolate Dipped Almond Cookies (Vegan & Gluten-Free)
A very decadent dark chocolate-dipped chocolate and almond cookie. This is true indulgence; a “grown-up” cookie – bitter and sweet at the same time, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and rich and chocolatey.
Set the oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C Fan) and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Weigh the coconut oil and put it in the freezer if it is too runny (10 minutes) or in the microwave if it is too hard (about 10-15 secs depending on how cold it is).
70 g coconut oil
Stir together the ground flax seeds and the water and set aside for 10 minutes.
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds, 45 ml water
Chop the chocolate and the almonds and set aside in a bowl (they can be together).
50 g dark chocolate (vegan), 50 g almonds
Making the cookies:
In a food processor, whizz together the flax seed mixture, the coconut oil and the almond butter until well combined.(Thermomix: Place in TM jug and set to 5 secs. / sp. 5, scrape down the sides with a spatula and whizz again for 3 secs. / sp. 5)
50 g almond butter, 70 g coconut oil
Add the sugars, flours, salt, baking powder and vanilla extract and whizz again until well mixed. (you may need to scrape down with a spatula a few times to make sure all the bits up the sides are well mixed in).(Thermomix: 10 secs. / sp. 6. Scrape down the sides with a spatula and set to 5 secs. / sp. 6)
50 g coconut sugar, 50 g caster sugar, 50 g brown rice flour, 25 g tapioca starch, 25 g coconut flour, ¼ teaspoon fine salt, ½ teaspoon gluten-free baking powder, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Then pour out into a large bowl or jug and add the dark chocolate and almond chunks and stir by hand until they are evenly distributed throughout.(Thermomix: add chocolate and almond chunks to the mixture in the TM jug and set to 10 secs. / sp. 3 REVERSE. Do one final mix with a spatula to ensure the chocolate and almonds are evenly distributed.)
50 g dark chocolate (vegan), 50 g almonds
Next dollop tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto the lined baking tray leaving a little space around each one. (It is quite a sticky mixture, so the easiest way to do this is to get a cup with a tiny bit of oil in it and occasionally dip the spoon into the oil and shake it off so that it is just slightly coated. This makes it much easier to measure out the dollops onto the baking tray as they just slip off the spoon.)
Pop the baking tray in the oven on the middle shelf and bake for 15-20 minutes at 180°C/ 350°F. Ccheck the cookies after 15 minutes and gently press the top to see how soft they are. Take the cookies out once they have browned and feel slightly firm on top (still a little soft).
Once out of the oven, carefully move them to a wire rack to cool.
Meanwhile, for chocolate-dipped cookies, break the other chocolate into pieces and place in a pyrex jug then put it in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir, put on for 30 seconds again, stir again, then about 15 seconds more and it is the perfect melted consistency.
100 g dark chocolate (vegan)
Once the cookies are cool enough to handle, take them one at a time and dip half into the melted chocolate then lay on a piece of baking paper to dry. Since they’re not tempered, they won’t have the glossy chocolate look but they will still taste divine! (feel free to go the whole hog and temper the chocolate first for a truly beautiful cookie!).
Notes
The texture is massively affected by the size of the cookie, the oven temperature and the consistency of the coconut oil. See the blog post for expert tips on this.
Don’t be tempted to try to whizz the chocolate and nuts in the food processor instead of chopping them. It creates too much bitty powder with the broken up chunks that gives the cookie a less than desirable texture. Luckily it’s not too much so it doesn’t take long to chop them by hand.
If you have a thermomix, you can easily temper your chocolate. Here is how you do it:
Place the chocolate in the TM jug, set to 5 secs. / sp. 9 to grate it.
Remove half of the chocolate to a bowl then set the TM to 2 mins. / 50°C / sp. 2. Scrape down the sides with a spatula then set again to 2 mins. / 50°C / sp. 2.
Then add back the remaining grated chocolate and set to 1 min. / sp. 2 (no MC). This brings the temperature of the chocolate down and will leave you with lovely melted chocolate for dipping. You will need to pour it into a small jug or cup though for dipping the cookies.