Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had some friends visit me recently and i decided that i wanted to make them dinner and dessert. My friends are vegans. Though i am no longer a vegan, i still have a couple of vegan friendly dishes in my recipe file. The menu consisted of Moosewood Collective's Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie and Chocolate chip cookies. I have to admit, i make the BEST chocolate chip cookies, unfortunately they are not vegan. My past adventures in vegan baking have consistently ended up with tears and disappointment so i was hesitant. My friend suggested that i just substitute the egg in the recipe with half a banana and vegan margarine for the butter and ta-da! Veganized!

The recipe is adapted from Fanny Farmer's recipe for chocolate chip cookies which i got from my friend Caroline. It contains what i call the golden ratio of cookies. 1 stick butter to 1+ cup flour to 1 cup sugar to 1 egg (about). The finished product is just the right amount of gooey, crispy and chewy. To substitute the egg, I think it is best to use a mashed really ripe banana. If your banana is still a little green at the edges, mash in some vegetable oil with the banana. The margarine i used was Earth Balance which is a really high quality vegan margarine. It's kind of expensive. Many of the cheap margarines usually contain some sort of milk product in order to provide creaminess. I'm sure there is some sort of cheap run of the mill margarine that is vegan, i haven't really checked the labels. Though, the Earth Balance resulted in a very delicious tasting cookie Here is the recipe:

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 banana, mashed (with a touch of oil if your banana isn't really ripe)
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (i always put a little more)
1 1/8 cup flour (that 1/8 cup is INTEGRAL to the texture)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
(optional: 1 cup chopped nuts)

Oven: Preheated to 375 degrees F

1. Melt the margarine in the microwave and add the sugars and mashed banana. Mix well
2. Add the vanilla, baking soda and salt and stir until incorporated into the margarine, sugar, banana mixture
3. Add all the flour and fold in until incorporated.
4. Lastly, add the chips and whatever else you want. Fold until uniform.
5. I like my cookies to spread and become crispy and chewy so i really like using a warm dough. If you like doughier, cakier cookies refridgerate the dough for 30 minutes or so.
6. Using a 1/2 tbsp measuring spoon, spoon balls of dough onto an ungreased baking sheet.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes until cookies are golden brown and set.
8. Eat your heart out!