Black Forest Cookies are quite possibly my favorite cookie of of all time!
This recipe has been with me for over 20 years and now it is veganized for everyone to enjoy!
Add these to your holiday cookie platter this year for a really unique twist from the classics!
Fudgy brownie-like cookies studded with brandy soaked cherries and chocolate chips!
(yes you can leave the brandy out, see note below)
Basically they are moist fudge-y crinkle cookies kicked up to an adult level!
I will advise that you make a double recipe though, they are that good!
These cookies are part of my 12 Days of Christmas Cookies this year!
- Semi Sweet Vegan Chocolate finely chopped 1 cup packed (113g)
- Unsalted Butter 2½ Tablespoons (35g)
- Granulated Sugar ¼ cup (50g)
- Strong Brewed Coffee (cold) 2 Tablespoons
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoons
- All Purpose Flour ½ cup + 2 Tbs (78g)
- The Plant Based Egg Egg replacer by Freely Vegan 4 teaspoons *see note above
- Baking Powder ¼ teaspoon
- Salt pinch
- Dried Cherries ¾ cup (100g)
- Cherry Brandy or for alcohol free use Cherry Juice approx ½ cup
- Mini Chocolate Chips ⅓ cup (65g)
- Pour cherry brandy or juice over dried cherries and let stand for about 30 minutes to overnight, drain, discard liquid
- Melt chocolate with the salt and vegan butter- cool slightly
- In a large mixing bowl combine granulated sugar, vanilla extract and cold coffee, whisk smooth.
- Add melted chocolate & vegan butter mixture, whisk smooth
- Add flour, egg replacer and baking powder, mix just until combined.
- Add the drained plumped cherries and chocolate chips and mix to combine.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 HOUR.
- Scoop with a #100 scoop and place on a parchment lined sheet pan spaced approximately 2" apart.
- Dust with powdered sugar *optional
- Bake in preheated 350°F oven for about 12-14 minutes
- When they are cool dust with more powdered sugar to spruce them up a bit *optional
Freeze for 1 month
*One of my YouTube followers suggested I add candied orange to these instead of the cherries and since I LOVE chocolate & orange together I did it!
They were awesome!!! All I did was switch out the cherries for candied orange and instead of semi sweet chocolate I used bittersweet since the candied orange have added sugar.
I highly recommend it! So good!!
Hi there I want to know what does plant based egg replacer means cause I’m from Malaysia n it’s new to me n I really want to try this recipe for Christmas.
HI – Yes I am using The Plant Based Egg – EGG REPLACER by Freely Vegan CLICK HERE to see it.
Hi Gretchen! First off, thank you so much for all of the great recipes you’ve shared! Can this recipe’s dough and the other holiday cookie doughs be frozen?
Also… what do you think about a tart/bar crust that is gluten free with cornmeal incorporated in the flour mix?
Hi Thanks! I prefer to freeze these cookies AFTER baking, they freeze really well! I do not do any gluten free baking though, sorry I’m no help there! But I do suspect of you are just making a quick shortcrust that doesn’t require eggs in the first place you would do ok with your formula. CLICK HERE FOR MORE
These are definitely on my list for The 12 Days of Christmas Cookies 2024
These are the greatest cookies of all time. I’m on my third batch.
Looking forward to trying this recipe out! Could instant espresso or coffee crystals be used in place of the brewed coffee? If so, how much would you suggest?
yes totally, I’d say 1 teaspoon is good
It’s 2019 and my mouth started telling my brain and hands to start making these asap. Last year I made extra batches because they were such a hit.
Hi, thanks forthe recipe. I want to try the recipe with flax egg and I think I should increase the amount of flour since I’m adding extra liquid to the dough. Do you think it works? And I couldn’t figure out how much flour to add.
Hi Sorry for the late reply, my blog has been broken and I could not answer questions. Just reconsitute the flax mean (1 tbs) in the coffee) I sould not play around with more flour, more liquid etc.. this is already a sensitive recipe
Hi Gretchen!
I am so sorry if this question has been answered already. I know you have used the Follow Your Heart vegan Egg before.
How much of that product would I add to this recipe? Want to make them today and I don’t want to mess it up!
Will ener g egg replacer work? I also have bob red mills…
Yes it will both would be fine!
Okay thanks. I made this today and doubled the recipe. I measured everything with a scale… the dough is hard and crumbly. it doesn’t look liquidy like yours but I’m hoping it turns out as it was a lot of ingredients to waste. any ideas where I messed up?
Okay Gretchen lol I’m so sorry for posting so many comments but I think I figured it out. I used unbleached flour , so I will reattempt with bleached. I for the melted chocolate I used semi sweet chocolate chips from enjoy life, so In the second attempt I’m using bakers semi sweet chocolate block and shaving it. Anyway…the fail cookies still taste so amazing so I’m sure when I do it correctly they will taste even better. Lol sorry again
Hey great sleuthing! But I always use unbleached flour and I never use chocolate chips in recipes calling for chocolate. Chocolate chips are made with certain ingredients that prohibit them from fully melting (since you want your chips *in cookie recipes *to stay in semi chip form) So perhaps this was your trouble
Uh Oh, Mine typically border on too soft to the point I have to refrigerate them before scooping (like borwnie batter) so I would have to say it’s a measuring error somewhere most likely the flour although there is not too much flour in the recipe. Sorry this happened! It’s very frustrating!