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Tag: cookies (page 1 of 2)

Sesame Coconut Cookies

I chanced upon Love Food Eat a while ago and, I am sure, like most visitors, fell in love with Chinmayie’s gorgeous photography and drool-inducing recipes. Her recipe for Kashayam was a hit! It is my morning beverage of choice, coupled with a slice of toasted multi-grain spelt bread. I also loved her recipe for Sprouted Horse Gram Curry.

Here are the results from the latest cooking experiment, inspired by Love Food Eat’s recipe for Vegan Sesame Coconut Cookies.

Sesame Coconut Cookies

Sesame Coconut Cookies

I adapted Chinmayie’s recipe, adding in my own substitutions and proportions. The end result is a mildly sweet cookie, crumbly in texture and hearty in flavor.

Ingredients

2 cups spelt flour
2/3 cup of sugar (I used a variety of organic cane sugar)
1 cup dessicated coconut
1/4 cup of roasted sesame seeds
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
3/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup of sunflower seed butter

Method

  • Combine all the dry ingredients and mix well.
  • Pour the wet ingredients one by one mixing slowly till the dough comes together. Let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven at 350 F.
  • Line the baking tray with a parchment paper. Place a small amount of dough between your palms and press to make cookies.
  • Place them on the baking tray leaving a little gap in between the cookies.
  • Bake for 10-15 minutes just as the bases starts to brown.
  • Let the cookies cool completely.
  • Store in an airtight container and enjoy.

Notes

  • I used spelt flour in place of whole wheat flour.
  • The original recipe called for a whole cup of sugar but I only used 2/3 of it. My version resulted in mildly sweet cookies.
  • I began using 1/2 cup of coconut oil but the dough felt too dry, and so I added another 1/4 cup.
  • I had no cinnamon and used cardamom instead. I thought it would be a good spice to add to the sesame-coconut combination. Unfortunately, the flavor wasn’t even discernible. Next time, I will add double the amount.
  • I had a bottle of sunflower seed butter in the refrigerator that I used in place of tahini paste (as called for in Chinmayie’s recipe).

Buckwheat Spelt Cookies with Cashews and Sesame Seeds

Sounds so tantalizing, hmmm?

This was a good batch of cookies, and surprisingly, they turned out well when I made them the second time too! I have experienced beginner’s luck many times, so I am fairly cautious when it comes to singing paeans of any recipe too loud.

The original recipe came from Desert Candy, a favorite food blog I read almost every day. I made a few minor substitutions (check notes below the recipe).

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/3 cup of brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup of sesame seeds and chopped cashews
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup of spelt flour

Method

  • Cream together the butter and sugar until soft and fluffy. Add in the salt and vanilla. Add both the flours to the bowl and the seeds and stir until just mixed in, do not overbeat.
  • Form the dough into a rectangular/circular log, wrap the log in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 3-4 hours, until chilled and firm.
  • Preheat oven to 325F. Slice cookies 1/4 inch thick and arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 16-18 minutes, until edges are just barely golden (do not let cookies brown).
  • Let cool on a rack.

Notes

  • These are light, crumbly cookies. They look like biscotti when baked and ready.
  • I used a dark variety of buckwheat flour, so my cookies had a dark grey hue to them.
  • I used vegan Earth Balance in place of butter.
  • I didn’t bother much with the proportions of sesame seeds v/s cashews. I simply made sure that the volume of cashews and sesame seeds together added to 1/4 cup.
  • The original recipe called for 1/4 teaspoon of salt but I found that too salty for my taste, and used only a pinch in the second batch.

These are addictive cookies! I baked the second batch for P to take to work, and they vanished – POOF!

Liz Lovely’s Gluten Free and Vegan and DIVINE cookies

Oh Liz Lovely… I couldn’t be happier that I get to buy your products, lovingly crafted in verdant Vermont, at my local grocery store, here in Atlanta.

A good cookie is a little piece of heaven. It is the perfect accompaniment to a favorite book, the best ending to a home-cooked meal, an easy way to sign off on a sweet note. But cookies = flour + eggs + dairy and some other ingredients. What is a girl to do if she is cutting back on all three items from her diet? Bid goodbye to cookies, probably. Or make her own! An easier (and may I say, more delicious option) is to buy a packet of Liz Lovely’s. They are giant cookies (one cookie = diameter of my palm and yes, I have a medium-large palm), nicely priced ($3.99 for a 2-pack) and delicious, divine, sweet heaven.

Ginger is a favorite flavor at our home, so the first time I espied a 2-pack of Liz Lovely cookies, I got the Gluten Free Ginger Molasses one. Coated with granulated sugar, soft and crumbly in texture, little bites of crystallized ginger peeking through, subtly sweet due to the molasses… this is a sweet-sharp cookie with bright flavors. You can break a piece (or two) off the huge cookie, eat happily and sit back, contented. Or you could sneak back in and finish the whole cookie, bit by bit… I won’t judge you!

Gluten Free Ginger Molasses Cookie

Last week, I bought a pack of two Chocolate Fudge Cookies. Ooh, this is a rich and decadent recipe. Each little bite is choc-a-full with nuggets of dark chocolate, silky in texture, assertive flavors… Know what, you won’t be able to eat the whole cookie in a single sitting. Try it, really.

Gluten Free Chocolate Fudge Cookies

Glancing through the Liz Lovely website, I saw SO MANY delicious-sounding cookies. Wish the company would bring them ALL to the Peach State. Please, Liz & Dan?

Holiday Goodies

Apricot Ginger Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Fruit-n-Nut Blocks

Butter Nut Candy

Phew.

Holiday Goodies

It was a delicious few days, dreaming about these lovely sweet treats, listing folks to give them away to, wrapping options, ribbons… I think I was in a happy haze all of December.

The cookie recipe came from a lovely book ‘Supernatural Every Day: Well-loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen’ by Heidi Swanson. This is not your average sweet cookie. It is subtly sweet (molasses, raw sugar), sharply spicy (dried ginger) and rich (dark chocolate). Dried apricots lend a gentle tartness and chewy texture. I rarely roll cookies in sugar but they look lovely, don’t you think?

Chocolate Fruit-n-Nut Blocks sounded like an amazingly simple and delicious recipe. Simple, yes. But I managed to mess up, floundered a little, improvised, finally salvaged it. Follow the directions, really. I have no other wisdom to share. I used dark chocolate (50% cacao) but it was a tad too bitter for me. So I would hesitate to give this to little ones.

Butter Nut Candy is dandy! I purchased a candy thermometer to make this one and I think it was a good decision. I had to ask P to cut the candy up for me after it set. I can see myself making this recipe (and variations) again and again.

Cookies, Candy & Chocolate