double chocolate Passover cookies with dried fruit – dairy, egg & nut-free (vegan)

Passover baking is a bit of a challenge. Most traditional Passover recipes rely on eggs, eggs, and more eggs to create some sort of “lift” to baked goods. Or they use ground nuts as a substitute for flour. Neither of those options work for us, so I’ve been on a quest for Passover cookies that are dairy, egg & nut-free … and there just isn’t a lot out there.

My first attempt started with a “mock oatmeal chocolate chip” Passover cookie. I made batches using either applesauce or banana as a sub for the eggs, and can happily report that both worked well. I lost track of which batch was applesauce and which was banana, and my testers couldn’t easily figure out which was which. Probably because the main flavor was chocolate. My big problem was that when I formed the cookies, the chocolate chips mostly fell out. I ended up smooshing the chocolate chips on top of the formed cookies, which was yummy but a big mess to eat. Time for some tinkering …

I thought about chopping up the chocolate chips, but then decided to go with cocoa powder to make sure the chocolate is fully incorporated. Because there really isn’t such a thing as too much chocolate, I also mixed in some melted chocolate chips.

These cookies are moist, a little chewy, and full of flavor! They’d be super easy to modify by using whatever dried fruit you like, or chopped nuts, or coconut. For the dried fruit – I used dried apricots (because that’s what was in the house) but think dried cherries would be a great flavor combination.

Makes about 30 cookies.

1 cup matzo meal
1 cup matzo farfel
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup applesauce (OR 1 medium banana, mashed)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried fruit (if large dried fruit like dried apricots – dice or use kitchen shears to snip into smaller pieces)

1) Preheat oven to 350°.
2) In a large bowl, stir together the matzo meal, farfel, sugars, cocoa powder, and salt.
3) In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, combine the chocolate chips and oil, then microwave for about 1 minute to melt the chocolate.
4) Add to the melted chocolate the applesauce (or mashed banana) and vanilla; mix well.
5) Add the “wet” ingredient mixture to the “dry” mixture. It looks like it’s going to be too dry, but be patient and keep mixing. Feel free to use your hands if needed.
6) Stir in the dried fruit.
7) Roll dough into balls approximately 1.5 inches and place on cookie sheets lined with either parchment or a silicone baking sheet.
8) Using the heel of your hand, slightly flatten the cookies.
9) Bake about 10 – 12 minutes until the bottom of the cookies are slightly browned (less baking time will result in a softer, chewier cookie) .
10) Cool on the cookie sheet for a couple minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.