Gluten Free Cookies Recipe with Quinoa, Cranberry and Stevia
This delicious guest post and gluten free cookies recipe comes to us from Debbie Adler, author of Sweet Debbie’s Organic Treats: Allergy-Free & Vegan Recipes.
One day I found my cupboards empty, save for quinoa flakes and dried cranberries. What kind of mother am I?! So in need of some comfort, I used what I had and made my son some Quinoa Cranberry Cookies. Let me tell you, what a surprise it was to find that the blending of nutty-flavored quinoa flakes with sweet and tart dried cranberries was like a match made on JDate. Hey, don’t knock online dating. That’s how I met my husband. Anyway, even more than my tax return filing status, you should appreciate that when your kids eat these cookies, you can pat yourself on the back for getting them to eat their spinach. That’s right. Quinoa is a complete, gluten-free protein grain that is related to the spinach family. And just so you know, these cookies are best right out of the oven, because they melt in your mouth like “butta.”
Gluten Free Cookies Recipe with Quinoa, Cranberry and Stevia
Makes about 12 cookies
Ingredients
15 x 13-inch sheet of parchment paper
1 cup quinoa flakes
¾ cup hot water
¾ cup all-purpose gluten-free flour (see page 13)
½ cup amaranth flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon guar gum
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ cup coconut oil
¼ cup coconut nectar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/8 teaspoon stevia powder
¾ cup dried cranberries
Directions
Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a 15 x 13-inch cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Pour the quinoa flakes into a medium-size bowl, add the hot water and let sit without stirring.
Whisk together the two flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, guar gum and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle.
Microwave the coconut oil and coconut nectar in a 2-cup measuring cup for 20 seconds. Add the vanilla and stevia and stir to combine. Pour the coconut oil mixture into the flour mixture.
Next add the quinoa flake mixture and stir to combine. Fold in the dried cranberries.
Take about 1½ tablespoons of the dough, shape it into a ball, and place it on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat until you have used up all the dough, placing the balls about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Flatten each ball gently with the bottom of a measuring cup.
Bake the cookies for 16 to 18 minutes, or until they are a light golden brown around the edges. Rotate the cookie sheet from front to back after 10 minutes of baking.
Transfer the cookie sheet from the oven to a wire rack and let sit for about 10 minutes before removing the cookies to cool completely.
Keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information Per Serving (1 cookie):
145 calories, 5 g total fat, 0.0 mg cholesterol,
18 g carbohydrates, 80 mg sodium,
2 g fiber, 2 g protein, 10 g sugars
Sweet Truth:
Use extra-virgin coconut oil if you want the final product to taste and smell like coconut. Otherwise, use refined coconut oil.
