Vegan Recipe: German Chocolate Cookies

Here is an excellent vegan recipe for German chocolate cookies that has received a lot of great feedback.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups unbleached wheat flour
½ cup (or a bit more) Dutch process cocoa (I highly recommend Perugina, which is the best cocoa I’ve ever found – try Draeger’s or other upscale markets, or the Internet)
½ teas. salt
1 teas baking soda
¼ cup sugar (use more if you want sweeter cookies)
½ cup brown sugar (or more for sweeter cookies)
2/3 cup vegetable shortening (I bought organic stuff from Whole Foods)
½ teas vanilla
½ cup (or more) “fruit juice concentrate” (I used grape, but feel free to use apple, orange or any other kind you choose – it’s found in the frozen section)
2/3 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut (I used a brand named Let’s Do Organic from Whole Foods that has 40% less fat)
2/3 (or more) cup roughly chopped walnuts (can substitute pecans or other nuts of your choice or don’t use any if you’re nut phobic)
2/3 cup (or more) chocolate chips (I used Whole Foods’ “365” brand of “dark chocolate mini chunks” – 70% cocoa – what worked great)
(optional) a little orange juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a food processor, add the flour, sugars, salt, baking soda and pulse to mix for a couple seconds. Next, add the shortening, vanilla and fruit juice concentrate. Pulse until mixed (won’t take long). Add the coconut and pulse for a few seconds or until mixed in.
Taste to see if you’re happy with the level of sweetness. If you want it sweeter, add a bit more fruit juice concentrate. Remove to a bowl and stir in the nuts and chips.
At this point, you can stir in a little orange juice – like a tablespoon or so – to make the batter easier to shape.
You can use a non-stick cookie sheet or a cookie sheet and nonstick spray. My preference is to use a sheet with a Silpat, which is a terrific French silicone mat used for baking. Find it in good housewares stores (Williams Sonoma, etc.) or online.
Scoop about ¼ cup (or whatever size you like) of dough per cookie and shape/press it a little into a round, flat shape. Since the batter isn’t that fatty, these won’t spread a lot, but still leave, say, ½ inch between cookies.
Bake for around 12 minutes or until you start smelling them. If your oven does convection, that’s better for baked goods.