Dairy-Free Egg-Free Fudge Brownie Cookies

I absolutely cannot believe how good these cookies are! You would never know they are allergen-free. My family loves them! They have a wonderful chewy texture inside, with a nice crisp outer layer. They would also be good without the chocolate chips, but the kids like the chips. Developing food allergies as an adult has been such a curse for a cook like myself, one who likes to make everything from scratch and use only real, wholesome ingredients. I have developed an unfortunate aversion to all things soy in the past few weeks. For a dairy-free, egg-free lifestyle, soy is a necessary evil, but I just hate it! I can taste it in anything now, even when my family can't. I have finally settled on Blue Diamonds Almond Breeze brand of almond milk (original) for cooking and pouring over cereal. These cookies, however, don't require any dairy at all, and you'll never guess what the egg substitute is! Avocados! It did not spoil the taste in the least bit, and I am going to try avocado as an egg substitute in some other recipes as well.

 I adapted this recipe from one found in GO DAIRY FREE by Alisa Marie Fleming, a book my sister got me for my birthday. I highly recommend this book to anyone suffering from food allergies. It has tons of valuable information and many recipes as well.

 Here's the recipe:

 DAIRY-FREE EGG-FREE FUDGE BROWNIE COOKIES
 2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
3/4 c. cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt

3 c. sugar
1 c. + 2 Tbsp. oil (I use canola)
1 c. + 2 Tbsp. mashed ripe avocado (about 3 avocados)
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet chocolate chips (1 bag)

Preheat oven to 375. Mix dry ingredients and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, blend the sugar, oil, avocado, and vanilla until combined well. Add the flour mixture, mix well, then add the chocolate chips. Place by scoops (I use a 2 Tbsp. size cookie scooper) onto ungreased pan. Flatten slightly with bottom of cup sprayed lightly with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely.  Yield:  5 dozen

Flattened and ready to bake

The finished product