Nutty Mocha Cookies

Some days I feel like I need more than 24 hours in a day, seriously! I'm so behind on recipe testing, organizing my folders (I have, literally, thousands of files to organize), cleaning out my e-mail inbox...and a large etcetera. Maybe it's just that I wanna do too many things and am too demanding on myself and when I can't sort all those things out I get really angry and grumpy. Being a food blogger and staying up-to-date on family and friends is no easy job, kiddos. *sigh*

I'm (slowly) learning that every single thing can't be perfect the whole time and that I should stop worrying so much. Sometimes, saying 'no' and putting yourself first really helps but I fail at this a lot.

Well, enough with the complaining! Cookies to the rescue!

Freshly homemade cookies are the best thing ever. I love to bake cookies, don't know exactly why because baking in general makes me feel better; maybe it's that almost instant pleasure that cookies give you. They don't take up a lot of time to be ready and it's easier to change up a cookie recipe. Follow my advice: if you've had a bad day go grab your apron, bake some cookies and challenge your inner Betty Crocker. Your belly will be happy, you will suddenly become a happier person and your house will smell amazing! Note: if there's some chocolate involved the level of happiness will be considerably higher. ;-)

Agave-sweetened cookies have a pleasantly cakey texture that I adore (and I hope you too) and these ones are perfect for when you want to use all those leftovers of nuts or other add-ins that you have lying around the pantry. I mixed walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and even some cashews too, you can also add some dark chocolate chips but I ommitted them to keep this recipe completely sugar-free. I used cacao nibs to decorate some of them.

The addition of instant espresso powder gives a subtle coffee aroma and enhance the chocolate flavor. When I'm baking these cookies the whole house smells amazingly crazy good and everybody suddenly show up in the kitchen.

Receta en español disponible en El Granero Integral.

Nutty Mocha Cookies
(yield: 2 dozen cookies)

Ingredients
1/4 cup soy milk.
2/3 cup mild-tasting extra virgin olive oil.
1 tbsp flaxmeal (ground flax seeds).
3/4 cup agave syrup.
1 tsp pure vanilla extract.
1 tbsp instant espresso powder.
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour.
3/4 cup whole wheat flour.
1/2 cup cocoa powder.
3/4 tsp baking soda.
1/4 tsp fine sea salt.
1/4 cup almonds, roughly chopped.
1/4 cup walnuts or hazelnuts, roughly chopped.*
1/4 cup dried cranberries.

*Or a mix of your favorite nuts.

Notes: 
· To make these cookies even more chocolatey replace 1/4 cup of the 3/4 cup of agave syrup with chocolate-flavored agave syrup.
· Not a fan of dried cranberries? Try with finely chopped dates or raisins.

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 ºF (170 ºC) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together soy milk, oil, flaxmeal, agave and vanilla until all ingredients are well combined.

Sift in flours, cocoa powder, instant espresso powder, baking soda and salt. Mix with a silicone spatula to form a soft dough.

Fold in almonds, the rest of the other nuts and the dried cranberries. Reserve some nuts for decorating the top of the cookies.

Scoop out 1 generous tablespoon of dough for each cookie and make sure you leave enough space between them cause they will spread a little while baking. Decorate with remaining nuts.

Bake for 14 minutes, until cookies edges are firm to touch yet tops are still soft.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container.