These Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Brownie Cookies are soft, super fudgy and perfectly indulgent, yet secretly healthy! They're also grain-free, refined sugar free and paleo too.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
Drain the soaked dates and place in a blender or food processor with the oil, almond milk and salt.
Whizz until completely smooth.
Transfer into a bowl, add the ground almonds and cocoa powder, and mix well.
Place the cookie dough in the fridge for at least 10 minutes for it to firm up slightly.
Take a heaped tablespoon of the cookie dough and use your hands to form it into a circular, thick patty*** - don't worry, unlike traditional cookies, these ones won't spread out as they bake.
Lay it out onto a baking tray lined with greased baking paper.
Repeat until the rest of the cookie dough is used up - you should be able to make 10 cookies.
Bake in the oven for around 10 minutes - don’t worry if they’re still quite soft when you take them out as they will firm up as they cool down. Be careful not to over-bake them!
Leave to cool completely before storing in an airtight container - keeps in the fridge for a good few days.
Notes
*Can be replaced with almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter or tahini. **You can alternatively use almond flour.***If you find the cookie dough too gooey to shape with your hands, you can use a cookie scoop instead, and use your hands or the back of a spoon to flatten them slightly.
For a nut-free version, replace the ground almonds with ground sunflower seeds or 50 g (½ cup) coconut flour, and use a nut-free plant-based milk.
For an oil-free version, you can replace the oil with applesauce.