Sustenance for The Spirit
We do just about anything for our grandkids, right? As any normal self-respecting grandmother, I like to bake treats for my grandkids, and they seem to enjoy them. Since distance requires that I fly to see my grandkids, I have discovered how to bake cookies and get them safely through checked baggage to their hungry little tummies. A favorite treat is chocolate chip cookies, and since I have one little guy who is highly allergic to lots of things, I found a good recipe he can enjoy. In fact, everyone enjoys them. It is actually one of my favorite cookie recipes now, even if it is dairy free, nut free and vegan. This recipe is also comprised of simple, basic ingredients, most of which you will always have in your pantry. For those with the allergies, you will need to purchase dairy free chocolate chips, which (thankfully) are pretty easy to find these days. I use the “Enjoy Life” brand and usually find them at our local grocery store or at Walmart.
Baking treats for my family and others is a way of saying I care about them. It is an expression of love…kind of like a love language. When it was discovered that our grandson had the allergies, he had suffered so much up to that point, I felt compelled to adjust recipes to fit his needs. His immediate family has also made adjustments, and most of the time I don’t think he feels deprived. He does like to eat, so once we wrapped our head around how to make the needed changes, his life improved tremendously.
We feel blessed by this child’s fun spirit and are so thankful that he is enjoying a much better health and life experience. As is stated multiple times in scripture, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (1 Chronicles 16:34, NIV) Enduring love, through generations and over time, is what family is all about. Eating more plant based foods and cutting out nuts and cheese is a small price to pay for a big chocolate smile.
Here’s the recipe:
The Best Nut-Free & Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies*
1 cup dairy-free buttery sticks (Earth Balance rec.) or shortening
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup sugar
¼ cup plain dairy-free rice, soy or flax milk beverage (I often use coconut milk but not all can tolerate it)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 10 oz. bag dairy-free chocolate chips or chunks
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line cookie sheets with parchment paper. (no butter)
In a mixing bowl, cream the buttery sticks or shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the milk beverage and cream well. Then blend in the vanilla.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to your mixing bowl and stir to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips or chunks.
Drop dough by the tablespoon onto your prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for about 10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets before removing the cookies to cooling racks.
*Recipe by Go Dairy Free at https://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/best-vegan-chocolate-chip-cookies
