Vegan Double Caramel Cookies

Happy September, TAAP-dancers! Can you believe how fast the summer has gone? We think you've been through a lot and you deserve a special treat. You know how good syrup-doused pancakes are? Or waffles with melty vegan butter and maple syrup filling all the little squares? What if you could eat cookies that taste like that? Enter these caramel-pancake-cookie beauties.

The key here is imitation caramel extract, which you can easily find at kosher shoppes and online. You can even use caramel-flavoured stevia drops or weird/fun "flavour drops" from various protein powder sellers (like MyProtein). Fun tip: the cheaper tasting the better for these cookies. We are going for fake pancake syrup over maple syrup flavour in these.

The 'double' caramel comes from the addition of caramel chips, which you can also find at kosher shoppes or online. If you can't find them, you can use chocolate chips, of course. Actually, I made one batch using both caramel and chocolate chips, and it was nigh life-altering. (Actually by 'batch' I mean 'dumped the rest of the batter in one giant mound so the inside stayed super soft and gooey', so definitely try that too.)

VEGAN DOUBLE CARAMEL COOKIES

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup brown sugar (loosely packed)

• 2 teaspoons agave nectar or maple syrup (though cheap pancake syrup would be more appropriate)

• 1/4 cup canola oil

• 1/4 unsweetened soy/almond milk

• 1 teaspoon caramel extract or caramel flavour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 cup caramel chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and oil and beat well until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture has a nice sheen.

3. Add the agave/syrup, oil, milk, and extract. Mix very well.

4. Add the baking soda and salt and mix well.

5. Add the flour and chips and mix until you have a cohesive sticky dough.

6. It is probably quite a sticky dough, so drop spoonfuls onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet instead of trying to roll them into small balls and getting sticky messed hands.

7. Bake for 10 minutes!

These are excellent with vegan vanilla ice cream, by the way. Enjoy!