These Vegan and Gluten-Free Orange Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies are the perfect treat to bring variety to your holiday dessert table!
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I’m pretty obsessed with these Orange Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies, and I think you will be too. They happen to be vegan and gluten-free and have the most soft and delectable texture. Not to mention, they’re packed with chocolate and burst with orange flavor. They’re the perfect cookie to bring some excitement and variety to your holiday dessert spread.
Wet Ingredients for Orange Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vegan Butter: Make sure you soften it for about 30 minutes before you start making your cookies! My fave vegan butter is Miyoko’s.
Brown Sugar and Cane Sugar: An even ratio of the two works perfectly for these cookies.
Ground Flaxseed and Water: To make a flax egg! This will provide structure for the cookie.
Vanilla Extract: To enhance the flavor of these cookies.
Almond Extract: You know I’m an almond extract enthusiast. It really drives home that baked good feeling in these cookies.
Orange Zest and Juice: That’s right. We’re using fresh orange zest and juice in these cookies. Yum!
Dry Ingredients for Orange Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
Oat Flour: Certified gluten-free if needed!
Almond Flour: Costco has the best deal around!
Baking Powder and Baking Soda: To make sure the cookies rise.
Sea Salt: To emphasize the sweetness and flavor nuance of these cookies.
Mix-Ins
Walnuts: Optional, but highly recommended. I would opt for raw walnuts and make sure to chop them into smaller pieces if they’re whole.
Chocolate Chips: Obviously we want vegan chocolate chips here. My favorite are Enjoy Life.
How to Make a Flax Egg
The process couldn’t be easier! You simply add 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed to 2.5 tablespoons of water in a small bowl, whisk, and let sit for 5 minutes until it thickens into a viscous, egg-like texture! This will provide structure to the cookies without using an egg and keep these babies vegan!
Baking Tips & Tricks
- Measuring the Flour: Make sure to spoon your oat flour into the measuring cup and then level it with a butter knife. If you pack the oat flour into the measuring cup, it may cause the cookies to be dry and gummy, which no one wants! I put my measuring cup in a bowl as I spoon and level to catch excess flour and minimize waste. Almond flour, on the other hand, should be packed tightly into the measuring cup.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Make sure you’ve purchased both within the last six months for best results. It loses its effectiveness over time. You can write the date you open your baking powder and baking soda on the top of your containers with a sharpie.
- Mixing Your Batter: Don’t overmix! The almond flour will begin to get oily and the oat flour can get gummy, which significantly affects the outcome of the cookies.
- Mixing Speed: While it can be tempting to crank that speed up on your mixer to quickly combine everything, this is not recommended. It will melt the butter and break down the eggs too much which will make the cookie lose its structure. This will lead to a pretty flat cookie. No fun! I recommend using low to medium speed and paying good attention throughout the mixing process.
- Chilling Your Dough: I beg you not to skip this step! It’s essential to making sure the cookies keep their structure and rise properly. I tested without this part and the result was very flat cookies.
- Oven Time: Ovens are finicky. Temperature can vary fairly significantly. I recommend beginning to check your cookies around the 11-minute mark. It’s okay if they’re slightly undercooked, as they will continue to bake on that hot cookie sheet!
If you make these Vegan and Gluten-Free Orange and Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies, be sure to leave a rating and review! This encourages others to give the recipe a try. You can also find me on Pinterest and Instagram. I always love hearing from you!
More Fun Holiday Desserts
- Super Fudgy Gluten-Free Brownies
- Vegan and Gluten-Free Oreo Pie
- Pumpkin Pie with Brown Butter Pretzel Graham Cracker Crust
- Gluten-Free Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Orange Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Hand or Stand Mixer
- Baking Sheet
- Cooling Rack
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup vegan butter softened
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup cane sugar
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 2½ tbsp water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- zest of one navel orange
- juice of two navel oranges
Dry Ingredients
- 2½ cups oat flour gluten-free if needed
- 1 cup almond flour packed
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp sea salt
Mix-Ins
- 1 cup vegan semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
- ⅔ cup raw walnut pieces
Instructions
- First, make a flax egg! Whisk together the flaxseed and water until combined and set aside to thicken for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place vegan butter, brown sugar, and cane sugar in a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer (using dough hook attachments) or a stand mixer (using paddle attachment) on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until it is sufficiently creamed together.
- Add flax egg, vanilla extract, almond extract, and orange juice and zest and beat until just combined. The butter may clump up and separate during this process as it reacts with the acid in the orange juice. Don't fret! Everything will come back together once we add the dry ingredients.
- Whisk together dry ingredients in a separate medium bowl and add to wet ingredients. Beat with hand or stand mixer until just combined.
- Add chocolate chips and walnuts and mix by hand with wooden spoon or silicone spatula until well-distributed.
- Wrap dough completely in plastic wrap or place in airtight container and put in the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours or overnight.
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat for easy clean-up.
- Use a small cookie scoop or rounded tablespoon to form the cookie dough into 22-24 balls. Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. You may need to do multiple batches depending on the size of your baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until the top of the cookies are just slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and let them set and cool for 20-30 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Notes
Photography by Hope Agresti
