Me want cookie.

Hi, my name is Danielle, and I am a cookie addict. Not the crunchy kind, but the chewy ones. Sometimes I get on Pinterest just to peruse the pictures of homemade Samoas, toffee-inspired snickerdoodle one-offs, and the multiple varieties of double-fudge delights. Yum. This is my porn; all hail the cookie whore.


In keeping with this sticky metaphor, I'm always casting for new cookie recipes. I usually have to adjust them to account for high altitude baking or I end up with anorexic, crispy, cookie-like thins. Not today friends. Today's star is dense and chewy, and by using my one vegan trick of replacing the egg with a flaxseed and water mixture, the benefits are threefold: 
     1. The flax shores up the dough so it doesn't spread.
     2. Flaxseed is high in omega-3s and fiber. (Can you say health cookies?!) 
     3. There are no salmonella worries if you want to eat all of the dough. And the dough is AMAZING. 


Also important to note is that these cookies are better at room temp and are at their peak of wonderfulness the day after you make them. Show some respect and save a few for the morning.

Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
(original recipe here) 


Yield: 20 cookies and a fistful of dough for snacking

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar (I use Sugar in the Raw)

1 tablespoon ground flaxseed mixed with 3.5 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1 teaspoon good vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup high altitude all-purpose flour (my flour tin actually has a mixture of high altitude all purpose and whole wheat flours that I use for everything)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk chocolate chips (or 1/2 C each of milk and semi-sweet...but don't use just semi-sweet as they aren't sweet enough for this)

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2.    In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the flax and water mixture, then stir in the corn syrup and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture until just incorporated. DO NOT OVER MIX OR YOU WILL BE SAD AND FEEL THAT THIS RECIPE HAS FAILED YOU. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by fat teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. (They don't spread, so you can really cram them together.) Eat the remaining dough.

3.    Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are golden.  Better underdone than overdone if you are unsure. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Serve with a glass of milk.