While these may be chocolate chip cookies, they are the furthest thing from the cookies found on every commercial grocery store’s shelves.

When I think of comfort food, chocolate chips cookies are usually right up there on my list (just below raw cookies dough, but lets not go there). Yet as I look back on the past two years that has been this crazy vegan adventure, I realize that these chocolate studded friends of mine managed to fall of the map. I’ve put chocolate chip cookies into brownies and cakes, and honestly tried a whole slew of healthy and better for you versions of the classic cookie over the past couple years. However, I failed to find one that could fill the cookie shaped whole in my heart, left vacant by this cookie’s counter parts. Apple sauce is great, and if I were eating these every week than I might reconsider its role in these cookies, but I really wanted a chewy-buttery cookie, so the apple sauce just had to go.

Using a combination of buttery Earth Balance, and melted coconut oil gave these the buttery and chewy flavor I had been missing. Munching on these now, I’m actually quite stunned at how long I went without… So on the eve of my two year vegan-iversary this recipe is my gift to myself, and all of you of course. As I make my way to the last cookie (no,I didn’t eat them all… I shared… a few) I’m truly grateful for the outlook this compassionate lifestyle has given me, and i look forward to all the adventures ahead, its been a good year…

Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 4 dozen

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup vegan margarine, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
• 1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons ground golden flax seeds, mixed with 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Finely chop the oats in a food processor and transfer to a medium bowl. Mix in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the margarine, coconut oil,and sugars until fluffy. Beat in the flax seed mixture and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula. Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Fold in the pecans and chocolate chips.

For each cookie, drop 1 rounded tablespoonful of dough onto the prepared cookie sheets, spacing 1-inch apart (do not flatten dough). Bake until the cookies are lightly golden (cookies will flatten slightly during baking), about 15-17 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack and cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to week or freeze for up to a month.