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Lovers of big bold flavors will be all over these Miso Lemon Pepper Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Miso paste adds a delicious nutty and unexpectedly savory note to these sweet chocolate chunk cookies while lemon and pepper add some freshness and a hint of heat. Gluten-free & Grain-free, soy-free option added.
Ringing in the cozy time of year with a new exciting spin on a cookie classic. Miso Lemon Pepper Chocolate Chunk Cookies! A cookie of contrasts; salty and sweet, zesty and with a hint of spice right at the end.
Miso and chocolate is a fantastic flavor combination and if you have not tried baking with miso paste before, you HAVE to give it a shot, starting with these delicious cookies.
The miso paste adds depth of flavor and umami, an almost savory quality, and some saltiness to these delicious chocolate chunk cookies. Trust me, they are unlike any other chocolate chunk cookie you have baked before
This recipe uses my favorite almond flour cookies as a base. A tried and tested recipe that I’ve been remaking into several variations, the chocolate thumbprints, molasses cookies, blueberry muffin cookies, snickers cookies, baklava cookies and more.
For these chocolate cookies, we add huge chocolate chunks to the dough for that extra burst of flavor and we also add some other bold flavor profiles such as miso, lemon zest, and black pepper.
As I said, these cookies are for lovers of big bold flavors. You can omit any of these more unusual add-ins depending on your flavor preference and keep the cookies with just the big chocolate chunks!
More Cookie Recipes:
Miso Lemon Pepper Chocolate Chunk Cookies with almond flour
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup almond flour, I use super fine blanched almond flour
- 3 tablespoons tapioca starch
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, or brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper or you can also use cayenne
Wet ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon yellow miso, , use chickpea miso for Soyfree
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 3 to 3 1/2 ounces of chocolate bar or chocolate chunks
Instructions
- In a bowl, add all of the dry ingredients and mix really well. Press and mix to break up any almond flour lumps and mix really well.
- In another small bowl add the maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla and the miso. Mix the miso by pressing and rubbing it into the mixture really well and make sure it mixes in , then transfer this to the bowl with dry ingredients and mix really well to make a dough.
- It will be somewhat sticky dough, if it is too sticky you can add in another tablespoon of almond flour.
- Add 2 1/2 ounces of a chopped chocolate bar to the dough and mix in, then chill for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the fridge. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 335 F(170c)
- Using a scoop, make equal portions of the dough then roll it and flatten it on the parchment lined baking sheet. You want to flatten it pretty well.
- These cookies spread so keep a lot of distance between them then use the leftover chocolate chunks and press on top of the cookies, distributing them throughout.
- Then bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies, baking sheet and temperature of your oven. Once the edges are starting to turn golden, remove from the oven. Let it cool for 3 to 4 minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer carefully using a spatula to cool completely.
- For the cookies to look like chocolate puddles of cookies, use a spoon to lightly break the chocolate chunk pieces on top so that they are chocolate puddles while they’re still warm and then serve.
- Store covered on the counter for upto 3 days and refrigerate for upto 7-10 days
Video
Notes
- soy-free use chickpea miso.
- Oil-free: omit the oil, add 2-3 tsp more maple syrup.
- These can be frozen and thawed for storage. Just make sure to cool them completely before popping them in the freezer.
- If you don’t like lemon with chocolate, use orange zest. Or omit the lemon
- For regular chocolate chunk cookies, omit the lemon, miso and pepper
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients:
- almond flour, I use super fine blanched almond flour
- tapioca starch helps with the crispy outside
- baking soda gives these cookies a bit of a rise
- powdered sugar, or brown sugar and maple syrup are added for sweetness and enhance the nuttiness of the miso pate
- for that hint of heat, I added some black pepper but you can also use cayenne pepper
- our fat of choice is virgin coconut oil – you can use refined one if you don’t want any coconut flavor
- vanilla extract – a must-add for all cookie recipes
- miso paste is added for saltiness and to up the umami of these cookies as well as to enhance the chocolate flavor
- lemon zest adds freshness – use an organic lemon
- I like to add big chocolate chunks so I cut a bar of good quality chocolate in bits myself but you could use regular chips if that’s what you have
Tips:
- For the cookies to look like chocolate puddles of cookies, use a spoon to lightly break up the chocolate chunk pieces on top so that they are chocolate puddles while they’re still warm and then serve them immediately.
- These are gluten-free, grain-free cookies. To make them soy-free use chickpea miso.
- These can be frozen and thawed for storage. Just make sure to cool them completely before popping them in the freezer.
- You can use your favorite vegan chocolate brand, I prefer dark chocolate.
- If you don’t like lemon with chocolate, use orange zest.
How to make Miso Chocolate Chunk Cookies
In a bowl, add all of the dry ingredients and mix really well. Press and mix to break any almond flour lumps and mix really well.
In another small bowl add the maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla and the miso and mix the miso by pressing into the mixture really well and make sure it mixes in and transfer this to the bowl with dry ingredients and mix really well.
It will be a somewhat sticky dough, if it is too sticky you can add another tablespoon of almond flour.
Add 2 1/2 ounces of a chopped dark chocolate bar to the dough and mix in, then chill the batter for 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove the dough from the fridge. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 335 F(170c)
Using a scoop make equal portions of the dough then roll it and flatten it on the parchment lined baking sheet. You want to flatten it pretty well.
These cookies spread so keep a lot of distance between them. then use the leftover chocolate chunks and press on top of the cookies, distributing them throughout.
Then bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies, baking sheet, and the heat of your oven. Once the edges are starting to turn golden, remove the cookies from the oven. Let them cool for 3 to 4 minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer carefully using a spatula to cool completely.
For the cookies to look like chocolate puddles of cookies, use a spoon to lightly break the chocolate chunk pieces on top so that they are chocolate puddles while they’re still warm and then serve them.
These are gluten-free, grain-free cookies. To make them soy-free use chickpea miso.
Store covered on the counter for upto 3 days, refrigerate for upto a week.
Made these a few times over the past few weeks – they are delicious, with a lovely texture. One time I added some clementine zest, and left out the miso and pepper. This time I also left out the zest, miso and pepper, but mixed about a teaspoon of tahini into the wet ingredients, for a bit more depth of flavor but nothing too crazy. My cookie scoop is about 2 teaspoons, which yielded about 14 cookies, after forming balls and flattening them on the Silpat. They didn’t spread much at all, maybe because I kept them cooling in the fridge for the full 15 minutes before cooking. Next time I will add the cayenne, just to give that a try. I also want to make your blueberry cookies soon, which are based on this same dough. Thanks so much for the recipes!
Wonderful! Thank you for your comment, Eva.
Made these and love them. Used white miso instead of yellow. Such nice layers of flavors. Miso is mild and nutty, then a nice slightly sweet cookie flavor, followed by the chocolate chunk with an ending of a small bite of cayenne. Note this recipe makes a small batch, I got a dozen medium sized cookies.
Yummy!
Just made this with my 7 year old son. We used orange zest and dark chocolate chips. Very easy to put together and delicious! We ate two straight out of the oven! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Yum!
I am making this recipe right now! I subbed my home blend GF flour mix and the dough is completely dry crumbles. Like pie dough before you add the water. What do I use to make it wetter and sticky like the recipe? (I am allergic to almonds hence the subbed flour – which probably made it drier).
Any ideas? more oil?
It won’t work well with gf blends. Almond flour needs a fourth amount of moisture compared to gf grain flours. So you’d need to add a lot more maple and a flax egg
Can I use corn starch instead of tapioca starch…
Yes
Hi like the look of this recipe. Miso?? I don’t use miso what could I substitute
please or do I just leave it out. Thank you for your amazing recipes.
Just leave it out
These look amazing! Do yo think almond butter would work instead of coconut oil?
Just omit the oil and use 2-3 tsp maple instead