Recipe: carnival cookies
In my quest to find a vegan, no added sugar, wheat-free biscuit I came across an innovative recipe from Heidi Swanson. The texture is somewhere between a soft biscuit and a muffin. Use the best dark chocolate you can find and they’ll pass muster as a healthy treat.
Carnival cookies
(adapted from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Every Day: Well Loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen)
4 small or 3 medium bananas, mashed
1.5 teaspoons natural vanilla essence/extract
60g coconut oil, melted
120 g rolled oats, blitzed for a couple of seconds in a food processor
60 g almonds, blitzed to make almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tsp good quality ground cinnamon, or half a cinnamon quill finely grated
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
100 g walnuts, lightly crushed but still chunky
180 g dark chocolate (70% or more cocoa solids) finely chopped or blitzed or use good quality chocolate chips
1 heaped tablespoon popping corn, popped with a little coconut oil (about 20 g of popped corn)
To make the popcorn: Heat a large pot with a tight fitting lid. Add a scant teaspoon of coconut oil, throw in the corn kernels and put on the lid. Shake pot every minute or so and let the kernels do their thing. Once the popping has subsided remove from the heat and carefully take off the lid. Allow the popcorn to cool, discarding any unpopped kernels.
If you don’t like popcorn (or can’t be bothered making it) try using 1 tablespoon of shredded coconut instead.
Preheat oven to 180c.
In a large bowl combine mashed banana, vanilla and coconut oil. In another bowl combine oats, almond meal, baking powder, cinnamon and salt
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and stir til combined. Gently fold through the chocolate, then the walnuts and lastly the popcorn. The mixture is quite wet but have faith, it will hold together ok.
To form cookies take a level tablespoon of mixture, round into a ball using your hands, then flatten slightly on the tray. This should make two trays of mouthwatering goodness.
Cook for about 14 minutes.
Can’t eat gluten? If you read my recent article on tips for avoiding gluten you’ll know that 4:5 coeliacs can eat oats. If you can cope with oats be careful to source oats that are free from cross-contamination from other grains.
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