Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

Cookies without the butta! Slightly crisp. Tender and Moist. And a hint of tropical coconuty-ness.

These are great for spontaneous sweets cravings because you don't need to bring the butter to room temperature for creaming nor chill the dough at all before baking. Woohoo.. From start to taking a bite out of the soft fudgy fresh out of the oven cookies, I'd say 30 minutes?

So if you got 30 minutes and are craving some delicious cookies, keep reading!

Coconut Oil Chocolate Chips Walnut Cookies

recipe adapted from Oh Lady Cakes

makes about 21 cookies

2/3 cup (148g) light brown sugar, packed *reduced to 140g
2 tablespoons (20g) potato starch *used cornstarch
1/3 cup (75g) refined coconut oil, melted (but not hot) *used TJ's organic virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup (56g) unsweetened almond milk, room temperature *used 2% milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt *used 1/4 tsp of table salt
1 1/3 cups (185g) all purpose unbleached flour
1 1/2 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cups walnuts, chopped and toasted

After milk and vanilla extract are added, mixture was curdled and weird.

Proceeded with dry mixture, and mixture was a bit dry.. Uh oh!

Rolling with it.. Mixed in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Scooped 1.5 Tbsp and rolled into balls.

Flattened slightly before baking.

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
2. Line large baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper; set aside.
3. In large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar and potato starch until evenly combined.
4. Stir in melted coconut oil and whisk for 30-45 seconds, just until the mixture starts to thicken.
5. Add milk and vanilla extract; whisk until combined then let set for about 1 minute to thicken, before mixing again.
6. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; mix with a wooden spoon or spatula, just until combined then quickly/gently mix in the dark chocolate and walnuts.
7. Using a 1.5 Tbsp cookie scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet then roll into round balls and flatten slightly.
8. Bake at 350˚F for 10-11 minutes, then remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for ten minutes.
9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
*Cookies can be kept in an air tight container, at room temperature, for up to five days. 

I almost thought these cookies weren't coming together when my dough looked absolutely nothing like the ones on Oh Lady Cakes. First of all, the coconut oil didn't seem to incorporate evenly and looked terrible. Then, the addition of milk and vanilla extract made it looked even worse.. The liquid ingredients didn't seem to bind well with the sugar/cornstarch. And finally, the dough was dry and crumbly. 

I am suspecting the cold weather and my freezing kitchen might have solidified the coconut oil during mixing? But oh well, after rolling and baking, these cookies turned out decent! They didn't look perfectly round and flat, but taste matters more imo.

The cookies didn't spread much.

Puffy and very fudgy when eaten fresh out of the oven.

My first sheet was rolled and baked, while my second sheet was flattened prior to baking. If you like more of a soft fudgy center, go unflattened. I preferred the second sheet where the cookies were overall crisp.

I used TJ's Organic Virgin coconut oil which lends a more prominent coconut taste in these cookies. I loved that and would have been great if I thew in some toasted coconut chips as well.

Taste: 4 stars out of 5

A bit sweet for my taste but nice subtle coconut flavor.

Texture: 3.5 stars out of 5

These cookies were sturdy and firm which makes them perfect for holiday cooking gifting. Crisp bite and the center sort of melts away. Walnuts added a nice extra crunch too.

Update: after a day, the cookies lost the initial crisp and were overall tender, moist and chewy.