Vegan Gluten-Free Brownie Cookies

I stumbled across @shiveggie's Gluten Free Paleo Brownie Cookies and was dazzled by their beauty, I LOVE how clean and simple the recipe was, and how she added red fruit to chocolate that makes a dramatically decadent looking cookie. I slightly modified my version to be vegan, sugar-free, oil-free and they're just as delicious, thank you Shi Veggie for sharing the inspirational goodness.

Vegan Gluten-Free Brownie Cookies

Adopted from @shiveggie's Gluten Free Paleo Brownie Cookies by Sarah Farsh May 12, 2020

• 1/2 cup unsweetened dark chocolate, chopped, chunked or chipped (I use Lily's)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cacao nibs
• 1/2 cup date syrup
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp flaxmeal + 8 tbsp water (let sit for 5min to gel into "vegan egg")
• 2 tbsp raw almond butter
• 1/4 cup 50/50 blend of coconut and almond flour (add more if need to thicken batter) 
• pinch pink salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp stevia powder (optional for extra sweet)
• Red berries (raspberries or strawberries)

Pre-heat oven to 350Melt chocolate in a double boiler or zap in microwave for 20 seconds so you can stir smooth. Stir in cacao nibs, date syrup, vanilla extract, flaxmeal and raw almond butter so all wet ingredients combine smooth. Stir in flour, salt, baking powder, optional stevia powder and berries. Best to slice berries so they look pretty and save some berries to garnish on top of your cookie mounds. Scoop 1 heaping tablespoon of batter to create mounds of dough on parchment or coconut oil lined cookie sheet. Should make 12 cookies or 20 small cookies. Garnish with extra berries on top before baking for pretty presentation. I used freeze-dry strawberries for this version and suggest fresh berries if you want them to be more vibrant color. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes or until tops are cracked and fully set. Let them set for 20 minutes post-baking so they harden and set.