RECIPE: VEGAN CARROT AND COCONUT COOKIES

You do not need the book pictured - this recipe is completely my own, I just thought the book looked pretty!

Hi lovelies! Today, I wanted to share one of my favourite recipes with you all. This time, it's for my Carrot and Coconut cookies - I've made these a couple of times, but the first time I made them, they were sort of an experiment as I had some ingredients left over from another recipe. They turned out great though, so I decided to recreate them but take more care to measure out what I was using so that I could share the recipe with you all!

These make a great snack for on the go, or a nice treat for when you have non-vegan friends and family over and want to show them how yummy vegan food can be! They're not sugar free, but they do contain fibre, healthy fats and carbs and they're much better for you that cookies you'd buy at the supermarket! They've not got an overpowering taste of either carrot or coconut, just a little hint, so don't be put off if these aren't your favourite ingredients in baked goods! These (in my opinion!) are perfectly balanced as they're sweet, but not too sweet and contain oats instead of flour, making them a really satisfying snack!

So, let's get right on into the recipe!
Here's what you're gonna need:
1 Cup of Oats
1/2 Cup of Grated Carrot
1/4 Cup of Applesauce*
1/3 Cup of Soft Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup of Shredded or Dessicated Coconut
1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
1/8 Cup of Milled Linseed Mix**

* You can buy you applesauce, but I prefer to make mine. To do this, I simple dice up two small sweet red apples (I like braeburn apples, but any sweet apples are fine) in water until they go soft, then drain and puree them with a little cinnamon.

** I buy this milled linseed mix from Aldi, I like to add it to recipes as it's high in Omega 3, but if you prefer, you can add any other small seeds, finely chopped nuts or just extra oats or shredded coconut. Anything will work, but I do recommend this linseed mix if you can get it, as it's great to add to recipes and meals for Omega 3.

Method:

Before doing anything, you'll want to preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. When you've measured out your ingredients, you'll want to add all your wet ingredients to one bowl. So that's your carrots, apple sauce and sugar. Stir these together to full combine.

Add your Oats, Coconut, Linseed Mix and Cinnamon to another bowl and mix together. Add these gradually to your wet mix. This may appear as though there are way too many oats for the mixture, but they will combine!

When shaping the cookies, the mixture does not form a solid dough like a typical cookie recipe would, so you'll need to use your (clean!) hands to shape these. They won't spread on the pan and they'll hold whatever shape you mould them into, so I recommend making 12 roughly equal circles and flattening them to around 1/4 inch in thickness.

As you can see above, I like to use this mesh tray between my cookies and my baking sheet, this prevents any sticking to the tray. If you don't have one of these, I recommend using non stick baking paper, a non stick tray or a little vegan butter or coconut oil to lightly grease your tray as they will stick.

When you're done shaping, pop these in the preheated oven for around 12-15 minutes or until they've gone slightly darker around the edges. Do keep an eye on these and judge them yourself, as depending on how thick or thin they are, they may cook a little slower/ quicker. When they're at around the 10 minute mark, I recommend carefully flipping them with a spatula so that they brown slightly underneath too. This gives them a little extra crunch!

This step is optional, however, I think it really helps to make them extra yummy! When I take these out of the oven, I let them cool a little, then carefully remove them with a spatula, and put them onto a plate and place them in the fridge for an hour or two before eating. I don't really like to eat my cookies fresh out of the oven and think they're much nicer when they've been chilled as they go slightly more crunchy, but remain slightly chewy in the middle.

So, that's it! Definitely let me know if you decide to make these as they're one of my favourite things I've created since going vegan, so I'd love to know if you like them!