These cookies are my current and actual addiction. YUMMY COOKIES! But make them pretty healthy and very unfussy. If you like peanut butter, almond butter, tahini (really any seed or nut butter!) I promise you are going to love these too. In fact, everyone you know will love them! I wrapped these puppies up in pretty little bags as holiday gifts, feed them to my child and husband and neighbors, and keep a cute little crock full of them next to our coffee machine for our very own eurotrash morning routine (si bellissima, small cookie with espresso).
Now - recipes either make me glaze over with boredom or cower in fear. I’ve heard the term “unrecipe” tossed around and I like that - it is generally how I approach both stovetop cooking and baking to make it not just tolerable but enjoyable. For you physics nerds, perhaps we can call this a “First Principles” approach. These cookies are made with a super flexible and forgiving recipe that does not require you to own a kitchen scale/double boiler/marble pastry slab/ulu knife, or to perform special and costly rituals to appease the Kitchen Goddess (love you, Padma). However, full disclosure: a squeezy melon baller thing will come in very handy to portion the dough. I use one that is about 1 tablespoon in size. You can also just eyeball it, using a tablespoon or normal spoon or your fingers - the dough portion should be a small handful you can squeeze inside your fist.
Furthermore and finally, I am 100% certain these cookies are gluten-free (please always check labels on ingredients you buy), and am fairly certain they are paleo and maybe even keto! Happy unrecipe-ing, lovelies!
General Approach
Ingredients
- 1/2 c unsalted nut or seed butter (if you use salted, omit additional salt below)
- 1/2 c maple syrup (agave, brown rice syrup, or other syrupy sweeteners might work too)
- 1 1/4 c nut flour (I use almond, but hazelnut would also be nice)
- 3/4 c starchy gluten-free flour (e.g. tapioca, potato, arrowroot or cassava flour)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Garnish (Whatever strikes your fancy! Should be bake-able)
Steps
- Mix dry and wet ingredients separately, then combine
- Form dough into small-ish balls, using your melon baller thing
- Garnish as you wish, before or after pressing onto baking sheet
- Flatten slightly onto the baking sheet - they won’t expand much so it’s ok to place them close (~1 inch apart)
- Bake at 350 F for 12-15 minutes, until slightly golden - they can tolerate a bit of underbaking more than overbaking in my opinion. Taste-test your first batch to calibrate.
Tahini Cookie Ingredients
- 1/2 c unsalted tahini
- 1/2 c maple syrup
- 1 1/4 c almond flour
- 3/4 c tapioca starch
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Garnish: I like to roll the cookies in sesame seeds (mix of black & white) before pressing onto the baking sheet
Almond Cookie Ingredients
- 1/2 c unsalted almond butter
- 1/2 c maple syrup
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 1/4 c almond flour
- 3/4 c tapioca starch
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Garnish: I like to press sliced almonds on top as I press the cookies onto the baking sheet
Peanut Butter Cookie Ingredients
- 1/2 c unsalted peanut butter
- 1/2 c maple syrup
- 1 1/4 c almond flour
- 3/4 c tapioca starch
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Garnish: I like to dust with cinnamon and a pinch of Maldon sea salt as I press them onto the baking sheet
UPDATE: Peanut Butter Cacao Nib (a.k.a. Mini Choco Chip) Cookie Ingredients
- 1/2 c unsalted peanut butter
- 1/2 c maple syrup
- 1/3 c cacao nibs (fold in with wet ingredients)
- 1 1/4 c almond flour
- 3/4 c tapioca starch
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt