This is a slightly new and improved version of a cookie recipe I made when we lived in Chicago. I just love these cookies because the date paste gives them such an interesting flavor. They also have an unusual texture, which is a cross between candy and cake-like and very soft. It took me a while to nail it down, but I finally got the recipe exactly how I wanted it, and it's a little more convenient too.
Vegan Plant Butter aka Earth Balance
A key ingredient for the soft texture and flavor is Earth Balance Soy Free margarine (aka plant butter) straight out of the tub. I used to use Country Crock with almond oil, but they discontinued the almond oil Country Crock and I went back to Earth Balance, which is readily available at most grocery stores. One nifty thing about it is it's pretty soft right out of the tub and you can beat it right away with a handheld mixer or let it soften for only 10 minutes and beat it easily by hand.
Vegan Date Paste Chocolate Chip Cookies
The recipe evolved over time as you can see by the pictures. The recipe in the recipe card should look like the first picture, but below are some photos of cookies made with tiny changes to the same recipe. For instance, in the darker cookies I used a different proportion of date paste and dark brown sugar.
The cookies in this next photo were sandier and made with Nutiva shortening instead of vegan butter.
And here's another version where I incorporated a little coconut milk.
There are all kind of ways to make these interesting vegan chocolate chip cookies, but you'll first need to make your date paste.
How to Make Date Paste
Date paste makes Vegan Date Paste Chocolate Chip Cookies special. It not only adds flavor and sweetness, but provides a little bulk, gives the cookies a nice shape and helps keep them soft. Making the date paste is an extra step, but it's worth it. The date paste recipe I originally used was from The Healthy Baker, and I used my food processor. I now make it in a Vitamix with as little water as possible so that it's thicker.
Flavor and Texture
This recipe is fun to play with, so I hope you try it as written and then go on to make your own changes. If you do, let me know! And I hope you try the date paste, too.
Substituting Date Syrup
At one point I tested with date syrup. It works, but it requires more ingredient shifting, so the date syrup chocolate chip cookies recipe has its own post.
Recipe
Date Paste Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup pastry flour or whole wheat pastry flour (125 grams)
- 2 tablespoons oat flour (15 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt, scant
- 2 tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut
- 120 grams Soy Free Earth Balance from a tub (around ½ cup, but weigh for best results)
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar (75 grams)
- 60 grams date paste (always weigh)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips OR milk if not vegan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk together pastry flour, oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and coconut. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, combine Earth Balance, brown sugar, date paste and vanilla bean paste. Beat by hand or with a mixer until smooth and creamy.
- Add the flour mixture to the Earth Balance mixture and stir to make a soft dough, then stir in the chocolate chips.
- Use a medium size cookie scoop to scoop out 16 balls of dough. You can scoop them onto a plate, then cover and chill until ready to bake, or bake right away.
- To bake, place the dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Press tops down just slightly.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until edges are set and cracks appear on top. The cookies should look well baked and not underdone.
- Slice parchment off the baking sheet and let cool on the counter on parchment.
Anna says
Hi Debby! I haven't tried it, but it might work. I used 100 grams of margarine, and since margarine isn't pure fat like oil you'd probably want to use less oil. Maybe start with 1/3 cup? The reason the margarine works well is because it adds some flavor and helps keep the texture soft. That being said, I can totally see why you'd want to try with oil. If you experiment, let me know how it goes. I'd try it myself but I'm out of date paste.
Debby Duitch says
can you use oil instead of margaroine?
Anna says
Probably a long time since it's just dates and water. I've been using mine like crazy so I can't really say.
Katrina says
I need to make the date paste. Do you know how long a jar of it will last in the fridge? I'm assuming it will be fine for a while.
Anna says
Katrina, let me know what you think! It's 4 tablespoons of melt and 4 tablespoons of oil so a total of 8 tablespoons fat. I also did a version with 8 tablespoons of Smart Balance (the dairy free kinds, which I did not know existed until yesterday) and those were good too.
Katrina says
Well you know who'll like this--my 14 year old "playing" vegan right now. They look good. I have been pleasantly surprised at how well MELT works.