Tag: cookies (Page 2 of 3)

Gluten-Free Peanut Cookies

March 22, 2011 / Lindsey / 2 Comments

I tried out a new recipe today, based on the recipe for my favorite Almond Thumbprint Cookies, and it turned out great! If you like classic peanut butter cookies, you’ll love these.

Check it out:

Gluten-Free Peanut Cookies

1 1/2 cups peanuts (I used roasted/unsalted)

1/2 cup melted coconut oil or butter (I like to use 1/4 cup coconut oil & 1/4 cup yogurt or kefir to make these a little less rich for my tummy)

1 1/4 cups arrowroot powder* (start with 1 cup and add more if needed)

1/2 cup sucanat (or a little more if you like)

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

Place the peanuts into a food processor or blender and pulse to a fine meal (but not into peanut butter).

Transfer peanut meal into a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients, and mix well. As mentioned above, start with 1 cup of arrowroot and add more if needed; I always have to add the extra 1/4 cup. The dough should form a nice ball and not be overly sticky.

Form dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place on an oiled cookie sheet. On each cookie, make the classic crosshatch pattern with a fork.

Bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes, or until cookies are very lightly browned on the bottom and hold together when you lift them up with a metal spatula.

You’ll want to remove your cookies from the cookie sheet without too much delay. If they cool down and then seem to be glued to the cookie sheet, place them back into the oven to warm up again, and then they’ll be easier to remove.

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*Curious about arrowroot? It’s actually not a refined product despite the look of it. It’s the dried, powdered root of a tropical plant that only grows in tidal flats where sea minerals are available. It’s therefore rich in trace minerals and in calcium ash (calcium chloride), which makes it easily digestible. In addition, the calcium ash in arrowroot is very important for maintaining the proper acid-alkali balances in the human body. The downside is its price — $5.35 for a 1lb 4oz bag at our local health food store; however if you have a local Asian store, check with them — I’ve discovered that our local Asian store carries arrowroot for only $2.95/lb!

A Valentine Delight: Almond Thumbprint Cookies

February 11, 2011 / Lindsey / 2 Comments

Almond Thumbprint Cookies, (c) The Herbangardener

Almond Thumbprint Cookies with homemade wild grape jam

Actually, these grain-free yummies are excellent at any time of the year, but for Valentine’s Day, fill them with any type of pink, red, or purple fruit jam. They are so good!

This recipe is based on the one from p. 528 of my favorite cookbook, Nourishing Traditions. Makes about 24 cookies.

Almond Thumbprint Cookies

1 1/2 cups whole almonds

1/2 cup melted coconut oil or butter (I like to use 1/4 cup coconut oil & 1/4 cup yogurt or kefir to make them a little less rich for my tummy)

1 1/4 cups arrowroot powder* (start with 1 cup and add more if needed)

Rounded 1/2 cup sucanat

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

Fruit jam of your choice

Place the almonds into a food processor or blender and pulse to a fine meal. Transfer almond meal into a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients, and mix well. As mentioned above, start with 1 cup of arrowroot and add more if needed; I always have to add the extra 1/4 cup. The dough should be very nice and workable — not overly sticky.

Form dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place on an oiled cookie sheet. Make a thumb print in each cookie and fill the indentation with jam.

Bake at 325° for 20-30 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned on the bottom. I’ve both under-baked and over-baked these, and they’re good no matter what; however I’ve noticed that if they’re under-baked they do tend to fall apart a little more easily.

Cool a bit and remove from the cookie sheet while still warm. If they seem to be glued to the cookie sheet, place them back into the oven to warm up again, and then they’ll be easier to remove.

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*Curious about arrowroot? It’s actually not a refined product despite the look of it. It’s the dried, powdered root of a tropical plant that only grows in tidal flats where sea minerals are available. It’s therefore rich in trace minerals and in calcium ash (calcium chloride), which makes it easily digestible. In addition, the calcium ash in arrowroot is very important for maintaining the proper acid-alkali balances in the human body. Its downside is the price — $5.35 for a 1lb 4oz bag at our local health food store.

Delicious Chocolate-Orange Macaroons

July 27, 2010 / Lindsey / 2 Comments

Well it’s obviously been far too long since I’ve posted a recipe from one of my favorite food groups. So here!

You should definitely try out these macaroons sometime — they’re delicious! I made mine with granulated coconut sugar, which darkens the color of the macaroons as you can see in the picture above. They’re also gluten free if you make them with arrowroot powder instead of whole wheat flour. In fact, I prefer them with arrowroot because of the crunchy-edge-soft-center texture that results!

Chocolate-Orange Macaroons

2 cups unsweetened dried coconut, shredded

2/3 cup sugar (granulated coconut sugar or sucanat are health-minded choices…but use white sugar if it’s important that they be white, like typical macaroons)

1/4 cup arrowroot powder* OR whole wheat flour

1 Tbsp fresh orange zest

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 tsp almond extract

2 egg whites, unbeaten (I like to freeze egg whites for times like this)

2 tablespoons coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix the coconut, sugar, flour, orange zest, and salt. Stir the almond extract into the egg whites. Then mix the egg whites and coconut oil into the dry coconut mixture. Stir well. Now, mix in the chocolate chips.

Either generously oil your cookie sheet, or line it with parchment paper (the macaroons will be easier to remove from parchment). Form tablespoons of dough into balls and place onto the cookie sheet; they won’t really expand, so you can place them pretty close together. Bake about 10 minutes or until they’re firm to the touch and lightly browned on the bottom.

Cool before serving, and enjoy!

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*Curious about arrowroot? It’s actually not a refined product despite the look of it. It’s the dried, powdered root of a tropical plant that only grows in tidal flats where sea minerals are available. It’s therefore rich in trace minerals and in calcium ash (calcium chloride), which makes it very easily digestible. In addition, the calcium ash in arrowroot is very important for maintaining the proper acid-alkali balances in the human body. Its downside is the price — it’s $5.35 for a 1lb 4oz bag at our local health food store.

Easy No-Bake Peanut Butter Balls

May 11, 2010 / Lindsey / 3 Comments

How was your weekend? Happy Mother’s Day! I had a lovely weekend; I worked part of the day on Saturday and it was thankfully a nice, easy day. When I got home, I was craving chips and salsa for some reason, so F. and I walked down to our favorite Mexican takeout place a few blocks away and brought back chips, guacamole, and salsa, and had a little “food fiesta” on the living room floor in front of the TV. It was really fun. Simple things like that are just the best! On Mother’s Day I had a lovely outing with my mom & dad to a nature preserve with a big lake. It was a gorgeous day, and it felt wonderful to spend some quality time with family and nature.

Also, I’m walking normally now! No more walking cast. And most importantly, I’m riding my bike again, which means FREEDOM! The bus was great there for a while, but nothing can compare to just getting on your bike and going wherever you want, whenever you want! I have a new appreciation for that. I can actually go to the store whenever I want to! By myself! Without looking at a bus schedule! And going to work is an easy 15-minute bike commute compared to the bus, which could take as long as an hour. Anyway, my foot is healing quite well. It’s definitely not 100% yet, but it’s trying. I’m just so thankful to be in normal shoes again. 🙂

Anyway, on to the recipe! It’s super easy! I love these peanut butter balls because they’re so delicious and whip up quickly. I like to take them in my lunches as a treat, and they’re also good for warm-weather “cooking” since they don’t use the oven.

Lindsey’s Easy No-Bake Peanut Butter Balls

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup chocolate chips

3 Tbsp honey (raw is nice since these don’t get heated)

3 Tbsp coconut flour

If you store your peanut butter in the fridge, let it soften a bit before making these; it’ll be easier to work with.

Mix everything together in a bowl, and roll the mixture into balls. (If the mixture is too sticky, add more coconut flour; if it’s too dry, add more peanut butter.) Store in the refrigerator.

(Healthier) Pecan Snowball Cookies

December 17, 2009 / Lindsey / 1 Comment

Buttery Snowball Cookies, (c) The Herbangardener

Pecan Snowball cookies (a.k.a. Buttery Fingers, Butter Nut Cookies, or Butter Snowballs) are traditional at Christmastime — rich and delicious and not overly sweet. They’re yummy!

I decided to make them this year, but I have a really hard time following recipes word-for-word, especially when they call for nutrient-free white flour and white sugar! 😉

So I altered the recipe a bit so that it’s a little more nutritious, yet just as delicious — replacing the white flour with whole wheat (although you could do half-white-half-whole-wheat), and using rapadura/sucanat (evaporated cane juice sugar) in place of white sugar. I also replaced 4 tablespoons of butter with water, and they’re still plenty rich (almost a little too rich for me!).

Here’s my recipe. Turn on the Christmas music, and bake these with love!

Lindsey’s (Healthier) Pecan Snowball Cookies

Makes about 40 small cookies

1 cup small pecan pieces

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 cup rapadura or sucanat (evaporated cane juice sugar)

12 Tbsp butter (1 1/2 sticks butter) (if you further reduce the butter, increase the water by an equal number of tablespoons)

4 Tbsp water

2 tsp vanilla extract

powdered sugar, about 1 cup (to roll cookies in)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together the pecans, flours, and sugar. Then melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan. Pour the butter into the flour mixture, and add the water and vanilla extract. Stir until well combined. Scoop up some of the dough and form it into a ball with your hands. The dough should form a ball that holds together easily. If the ball doesn’t hold together very well or seems a little dry, return the dough to the bowl and stir in a little more water.

Pecan Snowball Cookies, (c) The Herbangardener

The dough will look crumbly, but should hold together when formed into a ball.

Form the dough into small balls, and place them on a cookie sheet (no need to grease it). Since the cookies won’t expand, you can place them pretty close together. Bake for 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies. I made mine fairly small, and baked them for 20 minutes. Since the whole wheat flour and sucanat tint these cookies a light brown, it’s a little hard to tell when they’re done. Don’t let them go too long (better to undercook these than overcook them), and the bottoms shouldn’t get any darker than the rest of the cookie.

Take them out of the oven, and without delay, roll them in powdered sugar.

Pecan Snowball Cookies, (c) The Herbangardener