Yam chocolate chip cookies

Do you remember that feeling when you were a kid at the end of the weekend when a week of school was looming? That slightly disquieting knowledge of an inevitability and inescapable fate that settles into the pit of your stomach. It always carried through until sometime mid-morning on the Monday when the normalcy of being at school had once again established itself. We used to call it the Monday-morning-feeling, and it’s something that I’ve experienced ever since when faced with the prospect of going to work after a few days off. It’s an odd phenomenon in a way as some of the jobs that I’d be going to were ones that I really enjoyed, but despite that the feeling would still creep up on me. So ingrained is that feeling that the woody smell of pencils, that one that schools the world over seem to emit, stirs an olfactory Monday-morning-feeling response.

Equally memorable as the Monday-morning-feeling though is the feeling of freedom when the school bell rang at the end of the day. The evening was ahead of us full of possibility. Roller-skating or bike riding with the neighborhood kids (or snow fort building depending on where we lived at the time). We’d race home to be fortified for our adventures by an after school snack, none so glorious as a chocolate chip cookie. A sure cure for any lingering Monday-morning-feeling.

And has the glory and effect of the cookie love faded now that I’m 37? No it most certainly has not.

I’ve been working for a little while now on perfecting a healthier chocolate chip cookie and, I must say, it’s been a bit of a challenge. I wanted something filling and nourishing that would provide long lasting energy and some nutrition while still maintaining the texture and classic taste of the original.

I like the simplicity of banana and oat chocolate chip cookies(you just mash some banana, mix in some oats and chocolate chips, spoon it into blobs and bake) but in terms of a classic chocolate chip cookie they fall short on texture. I’m also a bit obsessed at the moment with the concept of baking with veggies. I like the moistness and sweetness that they add and it’s ridiculously fun to experiment with, so I was determined to get some veg in there somehow.

After a fair bit of experimentation and quite a lot of failure (and many a weird blob of burnt yam/flour mush)I have finally come up with cookie perfection. This is my biggest culinary triumph to date and, when my boys chose these over the store bought ones, my finest hour. I was tempted to name them cookies of triumph but perhaps that would be a step too far toward cookie worship for some …but feel free if you’re so inclined…

So if you’re suffering from a case of Monday-morning-feeling, or would just like to indulge in a little of the warm fuzzy feelings that chocolate chip cookies assuredly provide, whip up a batch of cookies of triumph… a-hrum-hrum… healthy yam chocolate chip cookies!

Yam chocolate chip cookies

2015-08-31 10:16:59

Made with spelt flour and ground almonds and sweetened with maple syrup these vegan, whole grain, and protein filled yam chocolate chip cookies are a clean eating snack that taste just like classic chocolate chip cookies!

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Ingredients

1. 120g yam puree
2. 75g maple syrup
3. 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4. 150g whole spelt flour
5. 100g ground almonds
6. 50g fine polenta (corn meal)
7. 1/2 tsp baking powder
8. 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
9. 1/4 tsp salt
10. 100g dark chocolate chips or cacao nibs

Instructions

1. Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with non-stick baking parchment.
2. In a large bowl mix together the spelt flour, ground almond, polenta, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl whisk together the yam, maple syrup and vanilla.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a wooden spoon.
5. Add the chocolate chips and gently knead until the mixture forms a stiff cookie dough with all of the ingredients well combined and the chocolate chips are evenly dispersed.
6. Working in batches spoon out small blobs of the dough, about 1 rounded Tbsp at a time, and roll them between your hands to form balls then flatten them a bit onto the baking tray. As the recipe uses yam in place of butter in the cookies won’t spread during baking so they’ll stay more or less the size and shape that you make them at this point, just leave a slight gap between each.
7. Place them in the oven and leave to bake about 15 minutes until they’re golden brown.
8. Remove them from the oven and then from the baking tray and leave them to cool on a wire rack.
9. Repeat with the next batch until all of the dough is used up. This should make about 18-24 cookies depending on how big you make them.

Notes

1. To make the yam puree bake three medium yams until soft, allow to cool, scoop the flesh into a blender and puree. Save any leftovers for smoothies or soup (or more cookies)!

Roots & Wren https://rootsandwren.com/