Almond Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies

A simple egg and dairy free recipe for rye chocolate chip cookies – just in time for back to school. This is one of our favourite cookie recipes, with a great depth of flavour (rye, of course, plus almond flour and almond butter).

Adding almond flour and almond butter adds richness and makes the cookies chewier, both of which can be missing in cookies lacking the high amounts of butter, sugar, and eggs traditionally added. These are very much a grown-up cookie, but I’m sure kids would love them too.

Rye and chocolate are best friends and this recipe definitely showcases that. The cookies are chewy in the centre, with a crispy, golden edge. The best kind.

For a similar gluten-free cookies, try my vegan peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies (the name is a mouthful, and the cookies are fabulous).

Why You Should Try This Recipe

It can be hard to find a good vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe that still has a great texture and flavour. This recipe uses a lot of flavour-boosters, like coconut sugar and maple syrup instead of white sugar, for a truly good cookie.

• It’s a whole grain cookie: I always make these with whole grain rye flour, but even if you use lighter flour, it’s still using high-protein almond flour.
• No need for substitutes: you don’t need vegan butter or margarine, or egg replacement for this recipe. Almond butter does a lot of the work.
• It doesn’t skimp on the chocolate: there’s so much chocolate in the cookies that the dough doesn’t cover it all. This is a good thing, but make sure you’re adding enough milk to make sure the dough is soft enough that it doesn’t fall apart.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Rye Flour: spelt or white flour can be subbed for rye if absolutely necessary, but you will get a different cookie. For readers in places with different varieties of rye flour available, use light rye. The lower the number, the better it is for cookies (815 in Germany is best here).
• Arrowroot Flour: for a chewier cookie and as a binding agent. Cornstarch can be used.
• Almond Butter: if preferred, use hazelnut flour in place of almond. Any runny nut butter can be used – hazelnut butter would also be great. I haven’t tested a nut-free version but hypothetically a seed meal and seed butter should work too.
• Chocolate: I use chocolate drops rather than chips, because American-style chocolate chips are hugely expensive here. Chopped bar chocolate or a mix of chips and chunks is good too.
• Coconut Oil: using softened, rather than melted, coconut oil causes the cookie to spread a bit more in the oven and results in a better texture. If your house is warm, this can be straight from the jar. If the oil is very hard, heat it slightly before mixing.

Step by Step

1. Mix dry ingredients: add to a large mixing bowl and stir or whisk to combine.
2. Mix wet ingredients: whisk the nut butter and other wet ingredients in another bowl until well combined.

3. Mix dough: combine the two mixtures and stir to combine, then fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Scoop dough: use a cookie scoop or large spoon to scoop 12 cookies onto a sheet.
5. Flatten: use the heel of your hand to flatten the cookies slightly.
6. Bake: bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, until lightly golden.

Recipe Notes

Flattening the cookies slightly causes a greater spread in the oven. Since the cookies are comparatively low in sugar, they don’t spread as much in the oven, and need a little help. Use slightly dampened hands.

These cookies don’t take very well to many substitutions, especially outside of those listed (which have been tested). I recommend making them as stated in the recipe card the first time.

How to Store

Storage: keep in a sealed container at room temperature for several days (this will depend on ambient temperature).

Freezing: place the cooled cookies in an airtight container and freeze at least a month. They taste good frozen.

Expert Tips

• Why non-dairy milk: adding milk or water to a cookie made with oil mimics the makeup of butter. Don’t omit it, but use water if you don’t have milk. I always use oat milk.
• Add extra milk: if your dough is hard and dry, this can be due to different flour types, inaccurate measuring, or dry nut butter. Add a splash of extra milk if needed for a dough that looks as pictured in step 3 above.
• Use soft nut butter: the hard, dry bits at the bottom of the jar aren’t ideal for this recipe. It should be runny, or at least spoon-able, but not dry.