The name of these cookies are a mouthful. The sight of these cookies is kind of atrocious… but they’re delish. And as a bonus, I got to try my hand at making my own chocolate chips! I haven’t had much luck finding dairy free chocolate chips. I saw some dairy free Guittard semisweet chocolate chips in a small town Walmart, of all places. I didn’t buy any because I was on a business trip and didn’t want to drag around chocolate chips and… well, because I’m an idiot. I figured I could go back to Appleton or Madison and pick some up. Wrong. Apparently dairy free chocolate chips are reserved for small, northern Wisconsin towns only. And not large cities.

Whatever.

I had some unsweetened chocolate bars in my baking supply stash and decided to make my own chocolate chunks out of the chocolate. They were super easy to make: melt ingredients, freeze, and break into pieces. Unfortunately, I didn’t see that the creator of these homemade chocolate chips warned her readers that they would most definitely turn any baked good into a mess. Whoops.

Even though the chips melted and made a spectacular river of chocolate over my Silpats and baking sheets, these cookies were fabulous. And the chocolate that stayed in the cookies was perfect. I guess I’ll be on the hunt for a more bakeable homemade chocolate chip. Or maybe Santa will bring me a very, very large box of dairy free Guittard chocolate chips.

Dairy Free Chocolate Chunk and Walnut Oatmeal Cookies
yields 2 dozen cookies

1/4 cup dairy free butter substitute
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup dairy free dark chocolate chunks, recipe below
1/3 cup chopped walnuts, lightly toasted

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars until well combined and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and egg until well combined. Stir in flour and oats. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.
3. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before moving to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

recipe adapted from Cooking Light

Homemade Dark Chocolate Chunks
yields about 2 cups 

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
4 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 teaspoons stevia powder

1. In a microwaveable bowl, combine chocolate, coconut oil, and vanilla. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in stevia.
2. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper and pour chocolate on top. Use a spoon to smooth, being careful not to spread the mixture too thin. Freeze for about 30 minutes or until chocolate is hard. Break into chunks and use as desired.
3. Keep leftovers in a freezer-safe covered container.

Note: I used Baker’s unsweetened chocolate in this. They don’t contain dairy, but the chocolate is made on equipment that also manufactures products containing milk.

recipe from Sugar Free Mom