I have a difficult couple of days ahead of me this week so decided to channel all my anxious energy into some baking. Everyone wins, right?! I made a tray of chewy and gooey eggless cookies with miso, chocolate chunks and optionally (although very recommended) bits of stem ginger.
These eggless cookies are so easy to make and even easier to eat – or is that my emotional eating tenancies at play? Anyway, they are a delicious treat and I hope that you’ll love them too, if I’ve convinced you to give them a go.
MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS
GROUND FLAX: I use ground flax (in combination with soy milk) to replace an egg in this recipe, but instead of just activating the flax and adding it to the batter, I whip it with an electric whisk until thick and gooey, a bit like an egg white. It works a treat!
SOY MILK: I use protein rich soy milk (in combination with ground flax) to mimic an egg. You can use a different plan milk if you are allergic or if that’s your preference – I am pretty sure all of them will work.
VEGAN BUTTER: I used melted vegan butter as the source of fat in this recipe. I used the vegan butter block by a Danish brand Naturli, but any vegan butter (that comes in a block, not the one in a tub) will work well. You could try coconut oil too although because it hardens too much when chilled it’s not ideal in this kind of chewy cookie recipes.
SUGAR: I used a couple of sugars in this recipe. Caster sugar, which is simply superfine white sugar as it melts quickly and doesn’t leave that grittiness behind and the same about of muscovado sugar. Muscovado sugar contributes a lot of flavour and also helps with the chewy interior of these cookies. I used light muscovado, but the dark version will work well too.
MISO: Miso is a delicious umami rich soy paste that is traditionally used in savoury foods, but its satisfying salty flavour can also be used to deepen the flavour of sweet treats. Here it works wonderfully against pools of dark chocolate and hints of sweet ginger. I used white (shiro) miso.
BAKING AGENTS: A touch of baking soda and baking powder give these cookies a gentle lift.
FLOUR: all purpose (also known as plain) flour is what I used to make these and this GF flour mix is what I recommend for the gluten-free version.
DARK CHOCOLATE: I chopped a whole bar of dark chocolate into small and a few medium-sized chunks and embedded them in the dough. They make a great addition flavour and texture-wise, plus they are appetising to look at too.
CANDIED/STEM GINGER: I am a massive fan of spots of ginger in baked goods and since ginger and miso go so well together I decided to add some to these eggless cookies. I used a classic English baking ingredient in this cookie – stem ginger, which is essentially ginger boiled in sugar syrup. It’s widely available in the UK, but if you cannot find it skip it or use candied ginger instead.
HOW TO MAKE IT?
1) WHISK FLAX AND SUGAR
Place flax and soy milk (or other plant milk) in a large mixing bowl and set aside for 15 minutes. Next, add both sugars. Whisk with an electric whisk for a minute or two, until thick, gelatinous and bubbly.
2) ADD MELTED BUTTER AND MISO
Next, whisk in melted, and slightly cooled butter and miso paste.
3) ADD FLOUR AND BAKING AGENTS
Next, fold in flour and both baking agents gently.
4) ADD MIXINS
Finally add mixins, I used a mixture of chocolate chips and chunks of dark chocolate, plus some stem ginger chopped into small cubes. Once combined, refrigerate to firm up, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
5) CHILL, SHAPE & BAKE
Once the mixture has cooled, 12 equal portions of the mixture using an ice-cream scoop or a scale and your hands. I ended up with 12 70 g (2.5 oz) cookies. Arrange the cookies on two lines baking trays and bake to perfection. Cool and enjoy!
- 120 g / 4.25 oz vegan butter block (I use Naturli)
- 45 g / 3 tbsp white miso paste
- 6 g / 1 tbsp ground flax (I use golden flax)
- 45 ml / 3 tbsp soy milk (or other plant milk)
- 100 g / packed Β½ cup dark muscovado sugar
- 100g / Β½ cup caster (superfine) sugar
- 65 g / 3 balls of candied ginger, chopped (optional)
- 250 g / 2 cups plain flour (or a good GF flour mix)
- Β½ tsp baking powder
- Β½ tsp baking soda
- 100 g / 3.5 oz vegan chocolate or chocolate chips
- Melt butter gently, whisk in miso. Let the mixture cool down a little.
- Combine ground flax and soy milk in a large mixing bowl. Let it stand until thickened (about 15 minutes).
- Add both sugars to the thickened flax mixture and whisk with an electric whisk for about 2 minutes – until thickened and bubbly.
- Next, pour in cooled melted butter and miso. Whisk to combine.
- Fold in flour and both baking agents. Stir well to combine.
- Chop chocolate into smallish cubes and and add most of it to the cake batter alongside chopped ginger (if using). Keep a few chunks of chocolate for decoration. Stir until well distributed.
- Refrigerate for at least 90 minutes or pop into the freezer for 45 minutes if you are in a rush.
- Using an ice-cream scoop (or a spoon and scales), shape cookie batter into 12 balls (approx. 70 g / 2.5 oz each). Roll each cookie in sesame seeds and pop a chunk of chocolate on top.
- Arrange shaped cookies on lined baking trays (I used a silicone baking mat). Leave a lot of room around each cookie – you don’t want more than 6 cookies per tray.
- Preheat the oven to 180Β° C / 355Β° and once ready, bake each tray for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, bang the tray against the countertop a few times, rotate the tray and return to the oven for another 7 minutes. Bang a few times again.
- Allow the cookies to set for 10 minutes, then transfer to a drying rack to cool completely.
- Store in an air-tight container away from moisture, they should keep for at least a week. You can also freeze them in an air-tight container, before or after baking.