Sweet Choices
I’ve been experimenting this week with hazelnut flour for a Bob’s Red Mill project. I tried making hazelnut flour cookies with this recipe and they were just ok. But I thought they’d be great with almond flour. Turns out I was right! These are fabulous. They’re a tender, soft cookie.
The foundation of this is the almond and date butter that you create in a food processor. (I prefer to create recipes that don’t use special equipment, but I don’t have another way to make these.)
The photo shows three flavors that I tried, but the options are endless. The basic recipe tastes like a sugar cookie – but not overly sweet, just enough. My husband said it reminded him of a cookie his grandmother made. The spice version begs to be paired with a hot cup of tea. The coconut version needed to be dipped in chocolate. It tastes like a Mounds bar. Need I say more?
I love the basic sugar cookie and my husband’s favorite is the chocolate covered coconut cookie. But don’t get me wrong, the spice cookie was also a winner. These are sliced refrigerator cookies. If you can use butter, I think it would be excellent in here.
No-Sugar Almond Flour Sugar Cookies
2 cups almond flour (I use Honeyville)
1/2 cup dates, cut in chunks and measured packed into the cup
1/4 cup of grapeseed oil
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Add one cup of the almond flour and the dates to the food processor fitted with the steel blade and process for several minutes. Scrape down the sides and process for another couple of minutes or until it starts to form a paste on the bottom. Add the remaining ingredients except the cup of almond flour – and coconut, if you’re making that variety. Process one minute, scrape down the sides – and bottom if needed – then pulse for another minute. Add the last cup of almond flour and process just until combined. Then add the shredded coconut and do a quick pulse or two.
Cut a piece of parchment paper about the size of a cookie sheet. Put the mixture on a narrow end and roll the paper over it, forming a tube then roll it to the other end. It will seem uneven and lumpy at this point but twist both ends in toward the cookie dough and it will tighten into a round, smooth log. I made mine about 2 inches in diameter. Place in the freezer for at least 1/2 hour but not long enough to freeze solidly.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Put parchment onto the cookie sheets. Slice your cookies into 1/4 inch slices, place on the cookie sheet keeping in mind that they don’t spread much so can be fairly close. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the bottoms and edges to be golden. (I always set the timer for less time on a first batch. Ovens, pans, and even the thickness of cookies will vary and can make a big difference.)
Coconut Option:
Add 1/4 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut. Once the cookies have cooled, melt chocolate chips (I used the microwave) and dip the bottom half into it. Place onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper (or they will stick) and refrigerate until chocolate is set. The chips I used have sugar in them but you can make your own with the sweetener of your choice with this recipe from Gluten-Free Gigi.
Spice Option:
Add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Tip:
I’ve found that using stainless steel pans with almond flour makes for less problem with the bottoms burning. I started out with one pan in stainless and another of a mystery metal with a nonstick coating. The other pan burned easily but the stainless didn’t. I bought another stainless pan.
Linked to Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Allergy Free Wednesday, Gluten Free Friday, Whole Food Fridays, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays,
Thank you for visiting. I've spent many, many hours reading blogs and books about the gluten-free life. I love research. Really love it. I'm a writer so this is part of what makes me tick. But I know not everyone likes it. My goal is to bring this wealth of useful information to you here through interviews with prominent people from the gluten-free community. I hope that each time you visit, you’ll walk away with a little something new, something that helps you enjoy your gluten-free life even more.
I want to try these! Thanks for sharing!
Love a good cookie! I am drooling!
My name is Cindy and I blog over at Vegetarianmamma.com I wanted to invite you to link up your recipe at our Gluten Free Fridays Recipe Link up party! It happens every Friday and we’d love to have you join us with some of your awesome recipes! You can find this week’s link up here: http://vegetarianmamma.com/gluten-free-friday-recipe-link-up-1/
Thanks, Cindy
Thank you to Cindy and Meghan for their new link up party. Go check out Gluten Free Fridays!
Thanks for stopping by and linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays recipe party! I appreciate it! We had over 110 recipes! We hope that you stop back next week to help make it a huge success again!
I have tweeted and pinned your entry to the Gluten Free Fridays board on pinterest! 
Cindy
Thank you. I’ll be stopping by often.
My name is Meghan and I work with Cindy in the Gluten Free Friday link up party! Just wanted to say thanks for sharing your recipe with us this week!
I will take a whole plate of the chocolate dipped coconut ones… please and thank you!
Great recipe, Shannon. I love that you used dates as the sweetener (that’s something I need to start experimenting with more in my baking). I’m highlighting this over at Whole Food Fridays this week. Thanks for sharing!
Megan
Megan,
I was thrilled to be a Reader Favorite for your Whole Food Fridays. Thank you!
http://www.allergyfreealaska.com/2012/08/09/whole-food-fridays-week-3/
[...] Reader Favorites: Grain Free Raspberry Ripple Cake from Vicky @ Gluten Free SCD and Veggie No-Sugar Almond Flour Sugar Cookies from Shannon @ Enjoying Gluten-Free Life [...]
I accidentally discovered a good trick to avoid burning the bottoms of cookies when baking with almond flour. Stack one cookie sheet on top of another … works great!
That’s similar to what I do. I found that using stainless steel pans, which are heavier, made it so my cookies didn’t burn. I had both the usual non-stick and also stainless when I started and quickly realized that the heavier stainless steel worked much better.
Hi there!
I just baked the spiced version and it came out SUPER buttery tasting which is weird because I didn’t use butter. I think this could almost be reminiscent of an oatmeal cookie if you added almond extract and some raisins.
Great post! I’m going to try a few other recipes you’ve posted since I have given up sugar recently. The only sugar I can have is from whole fruits. Thanks for all the suggestions…
I’m so glad you enjoyed them. I often use a small amount of honey because my diet (SCD, GAPS) permits honey
But you’ve inspired me to create more without any sweetener but fruit.
[...] Click this link for Shannon’s No-Sugar Almond Flour Sugar Cookies over at Enjoying Gluten-Free Lif… [...]
Shannon, I love your assessment of these cookies and the fact that one reader says they taste “buttery.” I’m all for a dairy-free cookie that tastes buttery! Plus, I love the other factors (Mounds cookies? Yum!), too. I’ve featured these over at All Gluten-Free Desserts. Thank you so much for being willing to share your photos/links there!
Shirley
Thank you for featuring this. My husband keeps asking for me to make these again
These look delicious!
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you’ll give them a try.
Thank you! Enjoy them. They’ve become a favorite. I was just thinking about making some to take to a meeting.