Chocolate Chip Applesauce Cookies

My awesome partner cleaned out the refrigerator last week and a jar of applesauce was discovered that probably needed to be used real soon.  I have no idea how long it was in there, but it still looked good (sadly, this is how a lot of my baking decisions are made…yikes!).  This is one of my favorite cookie recipes; they are super simple to make and they taste so good.  They are moist, fluffy, very cake-like, and it is way to easy to eat 10 in a row and not even notice (until they’re gone!).

Chocolate Chip Applesauce Cookies

• 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
• 3 tablespoons warm water
• 1/2 cup vegan margarine
• 1 cup cane sugar
•  1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or spray lightly with cooking oil.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flax seed and water and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add the applesauce, flax seed, and vanilla and mix well.
5. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and baking soda until well combined and then add to wet ingredients, mixing until all combined.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips.
7. Drop tablespoons of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, making sure to leave space between each cookie as they do spread a bit while baking.
8. Bake for 12 minutes, remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before moving to a cooling rack.
9. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.  These cookies are very moist and tend to stick together when stacked, so you may want to put layers of parchment paper between them when storing.