Some tasty cookies, brownies, and truffles to make and share. Chock of full of goodness: Chocolate, nuts and fruits, whole grains and a broad range of healthy flours (chickpea, sorghum, buckwheat, and tapioca). Some are vegan and all are gluten-free and mostly cane sugar free too. Try out some new sweetners and flours — there’s something for everyone!
Wish you all a happy and warm and joyous New Year…!
Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies
Dark chocolate brownie-like cookies full of good crunch and deep flavor and they are vegan and gluten-free too!
Based on a recipe from BabyCakes by Erin McKenna. I subbed her bean-based flours with some more mild tasting flours (sorghum, brown rice, potato starch) and added nuts and cocoa nibs too. Erin suggests adding chopped fresh mint to make your own Girl Scout (Guide) thin mint cookies. You can also make a pretty good rendition of chocolate crinkle/crackle cookies by rolling balls of cookie dough in powdered sugar (use a thick coat) and not flattening them before baking.
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups : Gluten-free flours (I used ¾ cup sorghum, ½ cup brown rice or buckwheat flour, and ¼ cup potato or tapioca starch)
1 cup : Coconut Oil melted
1 cup : Sugar of choice
1/3 cup : Applesauce (unsweetened)
½ cup + 2 tbl : Cocoa Powder
¼ cup : Cacoa Nibs or chopped Walnuts
¼ cup : chopped Walnuts
¼ cup : ground Flax Seeds
½ cup : dark Chocolate Chips or chunks
2 tbl : Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp : Salt
1 tsp : Baking Soda
1-2 tsp : Xanthan Gum
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix together the coconut oil, sugar, applesauce, cocoa powder, salt and vanilla. Set aside. In another bowl – mix the flours with the flax, baking soda, and xanthan gum. Gently mix the flour mixture into the wet batter. Mix until all the ingredients are incorporated. Then gently mix in the chocolate chips/chunks, cocoa nibs, and walnuts.
Using a tablespoon or one-inch ice cream scoop – form one inch balls and place on parchment lined baking sheets 1.5 inches from each other. Flatten the balls slightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cookies firm up on the cookie sheet before removing. The cookies can be stored at room temperature for several days or stored for longer in the fridge or freeer. They taste amazing coming straight from the freezer too! They would make great cookies for ice cream sandwiches.
Gluten Free Health Cookies (or Snack Bars)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease parchment with melted Coconut Oil.
Dry Ingredients:
3 ½ cups : cooked Quinoa
3 cups : dried Berries / Fruits and Roasted Nuts / Seeds
(For eg, in some of my batches: Dried Cranberries, Raisins, Mango, Seedless Dates, Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Cashews, Almonds, Crushed Walnuts, and Chocolate Chips!)
1 ½ cups : Chickpea Flour
½ cup : Lucuma Powder (a freeze dried tropical fruit in place of sugar)
1 tbl : ground Cinnamon
1 tbl : Sea Salt
1 tbl : Baking Powder
For thickening : Brown Rice Flour
Wet Ingredients:
2 cups : Nut-butter (For eg: Peanut or Almond Butter)
1 cup : melted un-salted Butter
700-800 ml : organic Apple Sauce
½ cup : Molasses
For thinning : Water by tablespoon
Optional:
½ cup : Pasteurized Honey OR melted Dark Chocolate for drizzling after baking.
2 tbl : Vanilla extract OR maple syrup for flavouring the raw mixture.
Preparation:
Stir together all the dry ingredients in one bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients (and your preference of vanilla extract or maple syrup).
Toss the mixed wet ingredients into the dry. Slice into and stir the entire mixture until wet & dry ingredients are evenly mixed and distributed. If mixture is soupy, add additional flour to thicken. Alternatively, add more apple sauce or water if mixture is very crumbly. A thick sticky batter is desirable.
Pour palm-sized dollops onto a lined pan, or into cupcake parchments, about 1 inch apart.
Bake at 350°F for 30-45 minutes, or just until the edges are browned.
Lightly drizzle honey or melted chocolate over the surface. At this time, the cookies will still be hot and not yet firm – allow an hour for cooling before eating or storing in fridge / freezer.
Gluten Free Brownies
Ingredients:
3 : Eggs
3/4 cup : Chickpea Flour
3/4 cup : Dark Brown Sugar
2/3 cup : Unsalted Butter
1/2 cup : 70% Dark Chocolate
1/2 cup : Chopped Nuts and Dried Fruit **
1 pinch : Sea Salt
4 tbls : Cocoa Powder
Directions:
Melt the butter and chocolate in a small pan. Let it cool down a little. Whisk eggs and sugar until fluffy before adding the butter and chocolate. Stir well. Add salt, nuts, and dried berries to the batter. Sift flour and cocoa and add it to the rest. Mix very well and pour into a square greased pan (I use Coconut Oil for this).
Spread evenly in baking pan/s and bake in a pre-heated oven (175°C/350°F) for about 20-25 minutes.
** I tripled this recipe while using dried orange peel, Iranian barberries (Zereshk), and pistachio nuts.
Dark Chocolate Coconut Truffles
This super easy recipe skips the tempering process so the truffles must be stored in fridge or freezer. Can be made vegan by using coconut oil instead of butter. If you prefer cow milk based cream and butter – use this combo instead.
Special tool recommended: one-inch diameter ice cream or melon scoop. Makes 30+ truffles.
Ingredients :
1.5 lbs : Bittersweet Chocolate (70% or + dark chocolate in chips or chunks – I love Scharfenberger bittersweet chocolate or Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips)
1 cup : Coconut Cream (1-2 cans full fat coconut milk – skim the more solid cream from the top of the can to measure 1 cup)
3 tbl : Coconut Oil or Butter
3 tbl : Liqueur of choice (Frangelico, Kahlua… etc) or vanilla extract
Topping of choice: Finely shredded coconut, ground hazelnuts, sea salt, espresso bean, raw cocao nibs or powder, cinnamon, or dust with culinary metallic dusts. Feel free to experiment with mixing or matching flavors of the ganache with the topping. Kahlua and espresso beans or vanilla extract and sea salt or Kahlua and cinnamon/espresso beans…
Directions:
1. Bring coconut cream to a slow boil and then turn off the heat. Throw in 10 ounces of the chopped up chocolate and stir until smooth. Add the coconut oil and stir until smooth. Add the liqueur or vanilla extract and stir until smooth. Pour the liquid ganache mixture into a freezer safe glass storage container or glass bowl. Cool to room temperature, cover, and freeze until solid (several hours or overnight).
2. Take the now solid ganache out of the freezer and let sit for 30 minutes so you can scoop it into small balls with a one-inch diameter ice cream scoop. Scoop approximately 30-40 ganache balls and place onto a wax paper covered baking sheet or tray. After scooping, refrigerate the ganache balls for 30 minutes to firm up if necessary.
3. Melt the remaining chocolate in a double boiler. I do this in 2-3 batches in a small double boiler. Pour one batch at a time of the gently melted chocolate into a shallow bowl or pie pan or plate and roll the ganache balls in it to coat. Tooth picks can be helpful to poke the balls and turn them to coat and then place onto a wax paper covered baking sheet. While the chocolate is still soft – you can sprinkle finely shredded coconut or ground hazelnuts or a small pinch of sea salt or place an espresso bean on top. Experiment with coatings. Place covered tray in fridge to firm up or store.
Truffles can be stored in the fridge for one week or up to a month in the freezer. Store in a covered container. Truffles make great gifts for the holidays. Put 5-6 in a glass tumbler – cover with a small square of coloured cellophane or kraft paper and cinch with raffia/ribbon and a little handmade tag.
– bon appétit!