Most families have their favorite cookie recipes, with memories of special family times associated with each recipe. In our family, chocolate chip cookies have been the most popular. My grandmother had a recipe for soft ginger cookies that she would make, letting me help roll them and cut them out. There isn’t much reason to look for new cookie recipes, as long as no one is allergic to any of the ingredients, like chocolate or nuts…or cane sugar ….or wheat flour.
Cookie-baking has become a challenge for families these days. Lots of people have food allergies and sensitivities now, and in our family there is one person in particular who needs to be especially careful. For us, the main culprits are wheat flour and cane sugar. Until recently, those restrictions have put a real crimp in the cookie-baking activities. This Thanksgiving I experimented and found a winner of a cookie that everyone enjoyed! Thankfully there is no issue with nuts…and nuts contribute most of the flavor and texture to these Cinnamon Nut Crisps. We were all so excited to finally discover a very tasty cookie without cane sugar or wheat.
I’ll share the recipe here…and I’m hoping that you’ll share a cookie recipe with me too, if you happen to know any good ones with no cane sugar that are also gluten free.
Cinnamon Nut Crisps
Ingredients
1 cup softened salted butter (I use Kerrygold)
1 cup coconut sugar crystals
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 cups almond meal (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1 cup oat meal
1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder (I use Clabber Girl)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecan pieces
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter with the coconut sugar, then gradually add the eggs, vanilla, and maple syrup, beating until fluffy. In a separate bowl, stir together the almond meal, oat meal, baking powder, and salt. With the electric mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Add the pecan pieces and slowly mix until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Using a tablespoon, drop mounds of dough (about 3/4 inches in diameter) onto ungreased cookie sheets. Do not make the cookies too large, or they will crumble when removed from the sheet. Bake for 9 minutes, until golden brown. Let them cool slightly, then loosen them with a spatula and transfer to a baking rack. Cool completely. Store in the fridge to keep them firm.