Chocolate Chunk Coconut Bacon Cookies

Chocolate Chunk Coconut Bacon Cookies

After our last recipe (for hearty greens slathered and fried in VEGAN BACON GREASE!), we were on a bit of a bacon kick. We keep a jar of coconut bacon in our cabinet for topping salads, but about a month ago, we also picked up a bag of Phoney Baloney's Candied Coconut Bacon and OH MAN, it was delicious. Its sweet, sticky, crunchy, and full of bacon-y flavor. And it makes a great pairing with chocolate in cookies! We loved munching a bit after dinner or as a late-night snack, but we had bigger dreams for it. Cookies were an excellent choice, if I do say so myself. Sweet, gooey chocolate and crunchy, salty coconut bacon wrapped in pillowy gluten-free (or not!) dough? Yep, that's a solid Saturday night right there! So whip up a batch of cookie dough, grab a spoon, and call it a night. Or cook 'em! Scroll on down for more on that particular way of eating them. ☺

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 cups Gluten Free Flour mix (We used Bob's Red Mill 1:1 GF flour. Whole Wheat should work here, too.)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegan butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup nut milk
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon ground flax
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped bar chocolate or chocolate chips (dairy free)
3/4 cup Phoney Baloneys Candied Coconut Bacon OR Homemade Coconut Bacon

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, xantham gum, and salt until well mixed. Set aside. In a mixer or with hand beaters cream together the softened butter/ oil and sugar. Add nut milk, ground flax, & vanilla and mix until totally combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture about a cup at a time, mixing them together until all of the dry ingredients are completely incorporated into the wet and a soft dough forms.
Pour in chocolate chips (or chunks) and use a wooden spoon or spatula to work them into the dough. Add in the coconut bacon and work it evenly into the dough. Use a scoop or spoon to scoop 1-inch balls of dough onto a greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 12 minutes, until golden and beginning to crack. Remove from oven, move to cooling rack, and try to not to eat them all before they cool! Once cool they can be moved to a plastic bag or airtight container and stored for about a week. Frozen they'll be good for several months- then you can pull out just one at a time instead of having an entire batch at your disposal. I never get that far. They're great next to a tall glass of almond milk and somehow get even tastier the next day. This recipes makes a batch of 20 (ish) cookies.