Monday, July 17, 2006

Double Chocolate Almond Explosion Cookies

Oh yes, the oven is back, baby!

Double Chocolate Almond Explosion Cookies from Vive le Vegan!. I posted about these once before, but I made these for some folks to taste test this week so I thought I'd blog 'em again.

If you liked my Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies, then you will want to sink your teeth into these morsels of chocolatey goodness!

As with all my cookies - super easy. Bowl and spoon, bake for 11 minutes, no more, cool for just a minute on the pan, to a cooling rack and then... ahhh, indulge!

Go on then, get baking...

really. go. bake now.

you still here? cookies await!!... priorities, people!

27 comments:

Danielle D. said...

Those look soooooooooooo tasty!

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

oh snap.

karen said...

Oh My God! These look amazing!!! I have the Everyday Vegan, but I need to get Vive le Vegan. There is no such thing as too much chocolate :)

Dr. Melissa West said...

Yummy! No baking here right now... it is way too hot... although I think I will make an exception for the 4 cups of raspberries I picked this morning and bake a raspberry pie.

Anonymous said...

no time to commment...must go bake

Catherine Weber said...

I want to bake so badly . . . it's still 90 degrees in my apartment. I have wanted snickerdoodles for two weeks now! Gah.

Awesome looking cookies. :)

Danielle said...

They are so good. The moment the heat wave breaks, you must go make those. I'm debating between making them again and trying another chocolatey cookie. Hmm...

Amanda said...

Yum! I love the Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies, so I'll definitely be giving these a go next time I'm in a cookie mood.

KleoPatra said...

Way to go on your latest honour, Dreena!!! The cookies are spectacular, as always!

Eat Peace Please said...

I. Cannot. Bake. These. Awesome. Cookies.

You are killin me Dreena! This whole post is about baking awesome stuff.

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

recipe testing where you make the cookies? please sign me up.

Dreena said...

Thanks Danielle!

Hmmm, Jess, all I can think of now is ginger snaps. Cookie obsessed I am!

Ah yes Karen, chocolate is a very good thing! :) Vive has quite a few cookie recipes along these lines if that's your thing - and cookie bars too (okay, not *all* are chocolate recipes though)! :)

Dragonslayer, we just got the most beautiful raspberries at the farmers' market this past weekend. Beautiful, big, clean organic raspberries. So flavorful - too bad the season is so short! btw, it's nice here this week, but last week it was so cool I actually turned on the fireplace! Bizarre.

Megan... so you got the hint?!!! :)

Thanks Catherine... yes, when it's that hot you just find other things to make - or, when your oven is broken - then you also go without!

haha - love that, Cherie!!!

Danielle - decisions, decisions! How tough it is to decide between chocolatey treats!!

Vegancore, cookie mood is at least a few times a week for me - but I *can* sample a little and not eat a bunch at once, so that's good... otherwise I'd be eating far too many sweets!

Thanks Kleo. :)

Leslie, I feel your pain!! Really, I was so excited to bake cookies again. I need to send you a stovetop recipe or two to test soon, to help with your cookie withdrawal! :)

Vegegriff, the power of pictures!! Hey, I'm glad you made them already and enjoyed them - thanks!!

Dreena said...

Vicki, what a great deal, hey??!!

Michelle said...

dreena burton, you are one evil woman here today!

not only do i not have all the ingredients for these cookies, BUT, we're starting to think about baby #3 and i want to lose a bit of weight before then. so no cookies for me for a while :(

of course, i could justify the baking by saying that they are for my poor, deprived children and hubby, but i don't think hubby will buy that if over half the batch is gone before he gets home and i have chocolate smudges around my mouth :P

shame on you! lol.

urban vegan said...

now that's what I call a cookie.

Tanya Kristine said...

woweee...lovely! you do make the best cookies i've ever tasted.

i made your asparagas with cilantro last night and about died. i hate veggies too but those were lip-smackin' good.

i thank you.

Anonymous said...

These are hands down the best cookies on the planet. Everyone that eats them loves them. I get lots of people saying to me "but these are not vegan". I tell them they are and I always feel like I made a little headway with them. They start to see that being vegan is not so crazy after all. Anyway, I make these all the time and people will do all sorts of things for me to get some! Hee hee! Oh and if you have not already made a batch, what are you waiting for?! GO!

Joy said...

Dreena, these look so good; I must try them soon!

Thanks very much for the kind comment on my site. I've become addicted to your blog and check it out daily. Gorgeous food.

Anonymous said...

You know I love your Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies. They're the best. In fact, I have two dozen of them in my refrigerator right now. Can't wait to try these new gems.

Peace, Love and Veganism said...

These look just as good as the ones I made a little while ago! Delish. By the way, I just saw the post about the rice crispy treats! Wow- I had no idea that my little post would go so far! I am thrilled to have the chance to test these squares out - my husband will be too, since I usually only make treats for "other people" (neighbors, co-workers, etc.) Maybe I can try these out on my new batch of kindergartners this fall! That would be the ultimate test.

Actually, I had one child with dairy allergies last year, so it was fun to bring in soymilk and Tofutti for him, and I could share it with him and say how yummy it was, so he didn't feel left out. He was actually really mature about not being able to have several treats throughout the year. By the way, have you ever veganized chocolate-peanut butter no bakes? They are my all-time fav, and my Nana would always make them when we came to visit.

Dreena said...

Michelle, I'm shameless, I know! But that's so fantastic!! Not that you are terribly tempted by goodies, but that you are thinking about having another child!! How exciting for you. You'll have to be vegan cubed if you have a third - hee!

Awesome, Mardouie!!! I love to hear that you were able to modify them with some subs too and they still worked out great, and that mix of cranberries and sunflower seeds sounds terrific. :)

Urban Vegan, cookies rank high in our household - must undergo strict cookie monster scrutiny!!

TK, that's so sweet of you - thank you! I had such a mommy brain moment with your comment - I was about to reply that I couldn't take credit for the asparagus recipe - I had forgotten all about it and thought you maybe confused it with a recipe from another book - whammo, get with it Dreena!! :)

Tina k... (((hugs))) for that marvelous note!! I love that you are "showing people the vegan light" with these cookies, and I am SO delighted that you love these goodies yourself that much - thank you. (and you are a clever gal working some bribery in there too) ha!

Thanks Joy! It's cool to connect and learn about other vegan blogs through the Vegan Freak
forums. You're welcome... and thank YOU for those sweet words. :)

Boy Crystal, you are well stocked for emergencies!!! (thanks also)!

Mrs. Carlson, your note about those squares took on a crazy life of their own in my brain!! and now... what are you talking about with those pb/choc cookies??!! Hmmm, not sure I've had them, but anything choc/pb is fairly easy to veganize - please tell me more! Oh, and e-mail me sometime so I can get your e-mail address to send you the recipe to test! :) thanks!!

Anonymous said...

these cookies and your recipe for homestyle chocolate chip cookies are my absolute favourite cookie recipes ever!!! the first time i made the double chocolate almond explosion cookies i had to make the boy bring them into work so i wouldn't eat them all at once!
i can't wait for your new cookbook to come out! :D

Dreena said...

Wow, thanks gwern!! Love that story too - cookies don't last long in our house with hubby, he really can eat 4 or 5 in a blink without realizing it! :)

Jody from VegChic said...

Dreena,

I tried baking those double chocolate almond ones tonight and I messed them up. They tasted kind of fruity?!? ---I blamed it on the almond extract, some people think it tastes like cherries. (Though I usually don't.)

Then, I figured since all the dishes were already dirty I would make the homestyle choc chip. The batter had the same funky taste. Lightbulb went off... I use aluminum free baking powder and it says to double it in a recipe. Your recipe didn't say aluminum free, so I doubled. ---I tasted some plain baking powder and that was the weird taste. (Yuck, by the way!)

Then, I doubled the recipe and skipped baking powder for the second half...ending up with a perfect double sized batch of choc chip.

Did I miss somewhere in the cookbook where you specify aluminum free baking powder?

Dreena said...

Jody, that's a total bummer!!! You were determined to get a batch that tasted good, though weren't you??! :)

Well, first off, you *may* not dig the almond flavoring much. I do, but you don't have to use it in the cookies. Just use extra vanilla. Almond extract does have a cherry-like flavor, so that may not be your thing.

Second, yes, the baking powder could taste weird. I have bought a couple of brands and then had to chuck them because they had the taste/texture of baking soda. There was almost no difference. Try a couple more, check the ingredients to compare the one you currently have against another non-alum brand. I DO use non-alum myself, though I don't specify it in my recipes for simplicity (having said that, I think I may put it in my new cookbook). I don't like using products with aluminum - deodorant included - but that's another discussion!! I don't know why the brands vary so much, but look around, and like I mentioned check the ingredients so you aren't buying another baking soda-like brand that will waste your $$$!

Finally, check the oils that you are using. I really like Spectrum brand canola oil. I have bought other brands of canola and safflower and at times have gotten a strange taste off the safflower that affects the flavor of my baked goods. Ditto with the canola oil. With spectrum organic canola oil I have NEVER had any of that trouble = no rancidity of anything else.

Okay, I really hope this helps and you can get to some decent tasting cookies! You more than deserve them after all that work too!!

Any more q's, let me know. :)

Anonymous said...

I clearly don't come here often enough. Those look wonnnnderful.

Have you seen the blogger cookbook being created? Details there:

http://his-phoenix.blogspot.com/2006/07/here-ye-here-ye-calling-all-cooks.html

Dreena said...

Thanks, Pearl! Cool concept about the blog cookbook - I must go take a peek at what it's about! :)