Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

These easy vegan chocolate chip cookies contain my favorite baking secret-using applesauce as a substitute for a lot of the fat and sugar used in conventional baked goods. Send them in the lunchbox, or serve with coffee or tea. This makes about 2 dozen smaller cookies or 1 dozen really big cookies. Photos by Evan Atlas.

1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup natural granulated sugar (or coconut sugar or date sugar)
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Generous pinch or cinnamon
2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds or chia seeds, optional
1 cup applesauce
2 tablespoons safflower oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 1 ¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, preferably cane juice sweetened
½ cup finely chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the first 7 (dry) ingredient in a mixing bowl plus the optional flaxseeds and stir together.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the applesauce, oil, and vanilla. Stir together until the wet and dry ingredients are completely mixed.

Work in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Reserve 2 to 3 tablespoons of the walnuts if you'd like to use them to top the cookiesas shown in the photos.

To make big cookies, scoop the batter up in a lightly oiled ¼ cups round measuring cup. Drop the batter onto lightly oiled or parchment-lined baking sheets and flatten with the bottom of the cup. For smaller cookies, use about 2 tablespoons of the batter to drop onto the sheet, and flatten a bit.

Sprinkle the reserved chopped walnuts evenly over the tops of the cookies.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the bottoms are just beginning to turn golden brown. Let stand for a minute or two, then carefully remove with a spatula to plates to cool.