Chocolate Chunky Monkey Cookies

When I was a kid, if you had asked me the definition of love, I would have said cookies. In my mind, baking and gifting cookies was just about the most thoughtful thing you could do. After all, who doesn’t love cookies? And it seems I haven’t changed much. For Valentine’s Day, I decided to experiment with Tony’s favorite sweet ingredients, and these Chocolate Chunky Monkey Cookies emerged from our oven.

This post is sponsored by Enjoy Life Foods, but the delicious chocolate chunky monkey cookies recipe, photos, and opinions are definitely my own!

I know some of you will ask, “but can you taste the banana?” Yes, that’s why they’re called chocolate chunky monkey cookies! Banana is so often used as a substitute, but I wanted that sweet fruit to shine through. It pairs deliciously with the double dose of chocolate. In fact, these cookies are so scrumptious, that the double batch I made will be gone long before Valentine’s Day!

As an added bonus, these chocolate chunky monkey cookies are naturally vegan and free of top allergens. What does that mean? There are no substitutes, just everyday ingredients that you can find in almost anyone’s kitchen. There was never any need for egg in this recipe, I like using oat flour (ground oats!) for an extra infusion of oatmeal goodness, and true chocolate is actually dairy-free.

That said, many chocolatiers add dairy for some silly reason. And dairy-free chocolate chunks, the key to the “chunky” in these cookies, aren’t as common as chocolate chips. Fortunately, Enjoy Life makes the most amazing allergy-friendly Mega Chunks. There’s just one problem with them. They’re snacking size, so Tony and I often nibble our way through the bag before I get to making a recipe! So I picked up three bags (they have a detailed store locator here) just to make sure I’d have enough to perfect this chocolate chunky monkey cookies recipe and for our thieving hands!

Reader Raves

From Corrine on Facebook: “I made these a few weeks ago, a great tasting cookie!”

Special Diet Notes: Chocolate Chunky Monkey Cookies

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, vegetarian, and generally top food allergy-friendly.

Alisa Fleming

Chocolate Chunky Monkey Cookies

5 from 3 votes

These rich, chocolaty cookies are relatively thin and chewy. However, you can refrigerate the dough for 1 hour or overnight for slightly thicker, softer cookies. We like them both ways!

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 11 minutes mins

Total Time 26 minutes mins

Calories:

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 ¼ cups 4 ounces oat flour (certified gluten-free, if needed)*
• ⅓ cup cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ⅜ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup mashed ripe banana
• ¼ cup grapeseed rice bran, olive, or melted coconut oil
• 1 ¼ cups quick oats certified gluten-free, if needed
• 1 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chunks I use Enjoy Life Mega Chunks, plus extra for topping, if desired

Method

 

1. Preheat your oven to 375ºF and line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.
2. Place the oat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt to a medium bowl and whisk to thoroughly combine.
3. Add the sugar, banana, and oil to a mixing bowl and blend with a hand mixer until creamy, about 1 minute.
4. Pour in the dry ingredients into the wet, and blend with the hand mixer or a large spoon until smooth, about 1 minute.
5. Stir in the quick oats, followed by the chocolate chunks.
6. Scoop dough by the level tablespoonful and place 2 inches apart on your prepared baking sheets. You can shape it a little with damp hands, but it will spread when baked. If you're chocoholics like us, flatten the dough a bit and press some extra chocolate chunks into the tops.
7. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they appear just baked.
8. Let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
9. Repeat scooping, baking, and cooling with any remaining dough. Or you can scoop and freeze the remaining balls of dough to bake later!

Notes

To make your own oat flour, grind oats in a spice grinder or food processor until powdered, about 1 minute.

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