Carob-Orange Cookies

These egg-free, dairy-free cookies swap out the usual wheat flour and chocolate for rice flour, barley flour, and carob powder. The result is a naturally sweet cookie with a gentle chocolate-like flavor and a hint of orange.

Honey is the only sweetener, and ground nuts add richness and protein that keep the cookies from tasting flat. Water or soy milk binds the dry and wet ingredients into a simple drop cookie dough that bakes up in under 10 minutes.

No eggs means the texture leans crumbly rather than chewy. If you want a softer cookie, the recipe’s own suggestion of adding ¼ cup oil to the wet ingredients smooths everything out.

Pro Tips

• Rice flour and barley flour create a more crumbly texture than wheat. Handle the dough gently
• Drop small spoonfuls and space them apart. These don’t spread much
• Bake just until set, around 8 minutes. Overbaking dries out egg-free cookies fast
• Cool completely on the sheet before moving. They firm up as they cool

Variations

• Indent each cookie before baking and fill with orange marmalade after cooling
• Swap orange extract for mint extract and press a whole nut into the center of each cookie
• Use cocoa powder instead of carob if you prefer a true chocolate flavor