Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

Equipment:

Baking Sheet, Blender, 2 large bowls, mixing spatula, cookie sheets

Ingredients

3/4 cup canola oil

2 cups sugar (honey, maple syrup or other natural sweetener)

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon whole flax seeds

1/2 cup soymilk

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grind the flax seeds on high in a blender until they become a powder. Add soymilk and blend for another 30 seconds or so. Set aside.

In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a seperate large bowl cream together oil and sugar. Add the flax seed/soy milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla.

Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. When it starts to get too stiff to mix with a spatula, use your hands until a nice stiff dough forms. Add the chocolate chips and mix with your hands again.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and flatten into a disc that’s about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Variations:

For chocolate chocolate chip cherry cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with almond extract, and replace 1/2 the chocolate chips with dried cherries.

For chocolate nut cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with a nut extract (almond, walnut, what have you) and replace the chocolate chips with 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts all are good).