These double chocolate biscotti cookies are vegan. Most of us probably think that as long as there are no eggs or animal products in a recipe that it is vegan. That is not always the case. Many companies that produce sugar use bone char during the production process. Bone char is the process of charring animal bones. This process is used to strip sugar of any color, making it white. This process causes many sugars to not be vegan.

There are many companies that do not use bone char. When making these cookies I used Florida Crystals Organic Sugar. It is a less refined sugar. In addition to the sugar, I had to seek out vegan chocolate chips. Typical chocolate chips have additives related to animal products, such as sugar and milk. For this recipe I used 365 Vegan Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. This is a Whole Foods brand found at their stores. The chocolate chips were a bit less sweet than your typical semi-sweet chocolate chips. With a little bit of research you can find vegan products at your local supermarket. If not, you can always contact them with your feedback if these are products you are interested in.

Double Chocolate Vegan Biscotti Recipe
Makes 24 biscotti cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsps. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tablespoon vanilla
3/4 cup vegan sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup canola oil


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a cookie sheet.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa in a small bowl and set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl beat the sugar and canola oil with an electric mixer until smooth.
5. Beat in the water and vanilla until combined.
6. Slowly add the flour mixture, beating after each addition.
7. Stir in the chocolate chips.
8. Form the dough into two logs.
9. Place on the cookie sheet.
10. Optional: brush with a little bit of canola oil.
11. Bake for 30 minutes.
12. Take out and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
13. Bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Enjoy and sweeten the soul with chocolate!