In my house, baking cookies was a cutthroat competition among the siblings, with my mother presiding, Iron Chef style, with one baby perched on her hip and another clamped to her knee. Our approaches varied. Mary increased the sugar in an attempt to up the crunch. Patrick (ever the psycho perfectionist) altered the recipe and portion size teaspoon by teaspoon in pursuit of a product with Mom’s thin and crispy edges. Bill made his backwards, just to act rad. It was never my intention to upstage your cookies, Mom—but you should know I’ve never claimed a victory as great as when you tasted your first BabyCakes NYC cookie and said: “These are better than mine.” Slather an extremely generous dollop of your favorite frosting between two of these cookies and you’ve got your newest addiction, the BabyCakes NYC cookie sandwich. Try freezing them.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup coconut oil
6 tablespoons homemade applesauce (page 78) or store‑bought unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1¼ cups evaporated cane juice
2 cups bob’s red mill gluten-free all-purpose baking flour
¼ cup flax meal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons xanthan gum
1 cup vegan chocolate chips

PREPARATION
1 Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2 In a medium bowl, mix together the oil, applesauce, salt, vanilla, and evaporated cane juice. In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, flax meal, baking soda, and xanthan gum. Using a rubber spatula, carefully add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until a grainy dough is formed. Gently fold in the chocolate chips just until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
3 Using a melon baller, scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the portions 1 inch apart. Gently press each with the heel of your hand to help them spread. Bake the cookies on the center rack for 15 minutes, rotating the sheets 180 degrees after 9 minutes. The finished cookies will be crisp on the edges and soft in the center.
4 Let the cookies stand on the sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack and cool completely before covering. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.