Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is just your basic recipe, only dairy and egg-free. And always a crowd-pleaser!

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milled flax seed + 3 tbsp water
2 cups dairy-free chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350*. Mix flax seed and water in a small bowl and set aside. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Beat margarine, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl until creamy. Add flax mixture and beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet 1 1/2" apart. Bake 11-12 minutes.

The flax seed replaces the egg(s) and you don't even know it's there. Seriously, if you've never used flax seed, go buy a box now! My Kroger has whole flax seed in the organic/natural section of the store, but the milled flax seed is just in the baking aisle. If you get the milled kind, store it in a Ziploc in the fridge after you open it. You can mill your own whole flax seed. I think most people use a coffee grinder. You can store whole flax seed in the cupboard and it keeps a long time. You can put flax seed in just about anything. It has good fats, including omega 3's and adds just a little burst of protein as well. And of course, replaces eggs because of it's binding properties.

Wanna know my trade secret for extra chewy cookies? Don't bake them until very done. Bake them *just* under done. Then, when they come out of the oven, give the cookie sheet a good tap on the top of the stove. The cookies will deflate and look a little flat, but they stay chewy much, much longer!