Vanilla chai almond butter and hazelnut chocolate chip cookies.

I love chai…but i tried a dirty chai recently (a chai latte with an espresso shot) and was thoroughly disgusted. LOL. Anyhoo, I started thinking about chai lattes and chai tea and how good it would be to dunk a big chocolate chip cookie in there and then BOOM! Like a freaking light bulb went off in my brain and i thought CHAI COOKIES. Easy, right? NOPE. My first batch I thought I’d be a super crafty B and soak some chai tea bags in some almond milk. Result? Blandtown, population: my tastebuds. Back to the drawing board and I crafted up a concoction of spices and they turned out just right. But how are you so confident they’re so good, Les? Let me weeeeave you a tale: Last night there were 16 and less than 24 hours later there are four left. FOUR. Savages, I tell ya. These bad boys are vegan, paleo, gluten free and delish. Here’s how to make them.

Makes: 16

• 1.5 cups of oat flour
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 2 tbsp coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• a crack or two of black pepper
• 1 cup vegan chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 3/4 cup chopped hazelnuts ( i pulsed mine in a nutribullet)
• 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax and 6 tbsps water whisked and let sit for 15 mins)
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
• 1/2 cup runny almond butter

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all dry ingredients (minus coconut sugar, hazelnuts and chocolate chips) in a bowl with a spoon until well combined. Using an electric mixer or large whisk, mix all wet ingredients and coconut sugar until thick and syrupy. Pour wet ingredients into dry, mixing until well combined and fold in chocolate chips and hazelnuts. Mixture too dry? Add a little almond or cashew milk. Spoon mixture onto parchment lined baking sheet and using a fork, flatten the cookies (they don’t spread out much during the baking process). Bake for 8-12 minutes (depending on oven…mine took about 10 mins).

Curl up, dunk your cookies in some cold nut milk and enjoy!