A Cookie For All Seasons..made with almond meal!

By now, I am sure that most of you who are gluten sensitive or have been diagnosed celiac have discovered how unhealthy many gluten free baked goods are for you! They are just overflowing with high-glycemic, starchy goodness; actually not-so-good!  However, I have been perfecting this basic almond meal cookie recipe (no flour!) for several months and I have found that you can use the basic cookie recipe and modify it to make just about any cookie. 
See recipes below...


Basic Chocolate Chip Cookie Made with
Basic Almond Meal Cookie Recipe

The GREAT Almond Meal Cookie

This chewy and moist cookie provides a foundation for many others. What is great is that there is no flour of any kind, the cookie is also very low on the glycemic index, relatively low fat and high in protein. Here, I have suggested numerous popular cookie options, each based on my basic almond meal cookie recipe.

This one is a KEEPER!

Basic Recipe

1¼ cups almond meal (get at Trader Joes or grind your own)

½ t. baking powder

Pinch of salt

1/3 cup cane sugar

1 egg, beaten

3 T. coconut oil or butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

GF vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375° F.

For whatever cookie rendition you are making, stir together the dry ingredients, then the wet ingredients. Combine both the dry and the wet ingredients together. Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookie

Use a cookie scoop or make one inch balls by hand and place on an oiled cookie sheet or one that is lined with parchment paper.  You may choose to flatten the cookies slightly with a fork if they are very thick. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until slightly golden around edges.  Remove from oven and allow to cool. They will become more stable as they cool. Makes: About 16 medium-sized cookies.

Variations:

Chocolate chip cookie: add ½ cup nuts, 1/3 cup  bittersweet chocolate chips, 2 T. flaxseed meal, and 1/3 cup GF oatmeal.

Chocolate-chocolate cookie: add ½ cup nuts, 1 T. expresso powder, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1/3 cup chocolate chips.

Oatmeal raisin cookie: add ½ cup pecans, 1/3 cup oatmeal, 1/3 cup raisins, replace the cane sugar with brown sugar, and use GF maple extract (optional) in place of vanilla.

Anise seed cookie: add 2 T. flaxseed, 1 T. toasted ground anise seed.

Peanut butter cookie: add 1/3 cup peanut butter in place of the coconut butter in the main recipe and 2 T. flaxseed and ¼ cup of oats.



Toasted Anise Cookie