Not only are they a great way to utilize different flours, but they have only a handful of ingredients, come together in less time than it takes to preheat the oven, and they are Picky Eating Child Approved. Also, Skeptical Not Quite a Vegan Significant Other Approved. Two very important demographics, n’est-ce pas?
Maple Flax Thumbprint Cookies
Adapted from Jae Steele’s Get It Ripe
Makes approx. 25 cookies, thumbprints optional
- 1 cup teff flour*
- 1 cup sweet rice flour*
- ¼ cup flax seeds
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup sunflower or olive oil
- ½ maple syrup
- ½ – 1 teaspoon xanthan gum**
- ¼ cup water
*Any combination of flours will work, as long as they equal two cups. I try to use at least two flours. P.S., this is a GREAT way to use up that unfortunate bag of Arrowhead Mills brown rice flour that you bought, despite all warnings to the contrary.
**I’m sure that using another sort of binding ingredient would work here (mashed banana, flax goop), but I like the way it turns out with the xanthan gum, so I’ve never tried anything else. Keep in mind that the gum helps not only with binding and texture, but also with moisture retention.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.
- Combine dry ingredients together EXCLUDING the xanthan gum.
- Add the oil and maple syrup, and mix until fully incorporated. Your cookie dough will have the consistency of barely-wet sand.
- Squeeze a small handful of cookie dough in your hand; how crumbly it is will determine how much (if any) xanthan gum you need to add. If your dough will not stick together, sprinkle the xanthan gum into the bowl and then mix into the dough. (Trust me, there is not enough moisture present to suck up the xanthan gum, as long as you sprinkle it over the full surface area.)
- Add the water and mix thoroughly, and behold the amazing power of xanthan gum! Not only does it instantly give your dough the texture of its gluten-riddled doppelganger, it also significantly changes the mouth feel, no matter how grainy your flour was.
- Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls and press gently into a disk. If you are so inclined, you may make a thumbprint in the middle. HINT: this is a great task to give to a Child Helper.
- Bake for 12 minutes. Allow to cool completely before eating.
I have no idea how long these keep – we always polish them off inside of 48 hours! But a week in an airtight container sounds about right. Right?
8 Comments
these cookies sound amazing! I’m happy to hear other flours could be substituted, the ONE gf flour I think I do not have is teff. ;)
by the way, any special reason I should?? if it’s an awesomely awesome flour I will try it.
Happy Vegan MoFo to you!
Oh, if you haven’t tried teff you should definitely pick some up! It has a pretty neutral taste, and results in a nice crumb when used in baked goods. It’s a lower protein grain, but it’s very high in iron. Also, it’s pretty dark. That’s the only thing that took some getting used to for me. But it’s delicious!
Happy Vegan MoFo to you, too! I can’t wait to check out your guest post!
Aw! Poor Arrowhead Mills. :-(
Teff is one of my most favorite flours, I’m gonna give these a go when my cooking schedule opens up later this year.
xo
kittee
I know, I know . . . but now I guess I have a great use for AM brown rice flour. :)
yum! i bet the texture of these are perfect… they look somewhere in between a nutritional powerhouse raw ball and a spice cookie to me. And that equals nothing but awesome in my book!
Oh yeah – the iron content in teff is amazing! I’ve thought about throwing a nut butter into these, or maybe some tahini, and a really high protein flour. . . also, these cookies *do* taste really good raw. It wouldn’t take much to bulk them up with desicated coconut flakes and nut butter to make them into a super powerhouse raw ball!
I made them! They’re pretty easy, very tasty, and I love that they don’t need refined sugar! Not gonna last long around here, but I’m sure we’ll be making them again soon.
Just made these. As a gluten eating person, I still found these absolutely delicious!
2 Trackbacks
[...] For the Fifth Annual Vegan Month of Food, I wrote a guest post for xgfx on one of my favorite recipes, maple flax cookies. You can check it out here! [...]
[...] the meantime, you can check out my guest post over at the fabulous xgfx [...]