Delicious, healthy and Gluten-free cookies: something for everybody

First of all, have you seen this cute piggy the cookie monster? I don’t usually send cute animal videos to my peeps, but I sent this to a few people, friends and family members, to put a smile on their face.

Anyway. A couple of months ago one weekend I did not do anything but bake cookies. My husband has gluten sensitivity, so I try to make everything gluten-free. Dear gluten-free vegans, I don’t know about you but I find gluten-free baking much harder than ‘veganizing’ any given recipe. I can bake or make a vegan version of almost anything in my granny’s recipe book, but gluten-free? That’s tough.

So that one weekend, because I had the excuse of the cold weather (what, you think I actually go out in winter? Like..at all?!), I stayed home and made experiments on various recipes that I brought from back home. 

The result was two people munching on cookies and binging on Peaky Blinders. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. I am listing these in the order of my own preference; i.e. the coconut cookies are heavenly, so are the hazelnut crunches. Choco-protein cookies are divine with mylk. Matcha cookies are mum’s favourites, and choco chip is David’s. Obviously, I agree with mum in this case, more than my beloved. Finally, diet cookies are not one of those “I cannot believe this is diet!” kinds. But they too are tasty. I’d have them with jam or a chocolate spread for breakfast. But that’s just me (shrug).

They are all gluten-free, dairy-free, and are fun to make. If you try these and disagree with me, do let me know and we’ll need to have a little chat!

The softest, the tastiest, the heavenliest coconut cookies

If you follow my Instagram account, you might know that my granny (my mum’s mum) was my role model. She still is, to a large extent. She was this feminine, beautiful, smart woman who baked the most delicious cookies. She could be child-like with us kids, really playful, but she was strong enough to raise her young kids on her own, when her beloved husband died too young. The stories she had. We all loved to stay at her place, when we were kids. The house was full of toys and cookies, and crisps, and whatever else we wanted. May she rest in peace, wherever she is. I wish I could bake like her, but I think these soft cookies come close to hers.

1 cup coconut flour (my favourite is Nutiva)
1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup coconut oil (I don’t even melt the oil. I just mix it with other ingredients)
5-6 tbsp almond milk (or any plant-based milk) You should see if the dough needs more milk, it might depend on the brand of flour you are using.

Mix all the ingredients, bake at around 350 degrees until they are done. What I do to make sure that they are done is that I stick a chopstick in one of them, and if the chopstick comes out clean, that is, no dough comes out, they are done.

No-bake Hazelnut crunch recipe:

Okay, these might not be cookies, technically speaking. But I like them so much that I’m sharing the recipe the second time on this blog. I mean, the coconut cookies above might be more of a personal choice, but these crunchies should be admired universally. It should be considered common sense to love these hazelnut crunchies. Except if you are allergic to hazelnuts. In that case, you might try the same recipe with a mix of almonds and walnuts. I have not tried that combination with this particular recipe, but I once had to replace hazelnuts with almonds and walnuts and it had worked back then.

Okay, here we go:

1/2 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup tahini
1 cup crumbled hazelnut (not ground, but crumbled)
A little more than 1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp chia seeds
1/4 cup cacao powder
1 tsp maca (if not, use something earthy, like cardamom, if you like the taste, or nutmeg, or cinnamon. But not more than a tsp. You do not want the spice to overwhelm the rest of the ingredients).

Mix all really well, shape them into a cookie or bite-size form, and place in the fridge for a full hour.

After waiting for about an hour, take them out of the fridge and bake for around 15 minutes under 345 degrees. I also let them cool in the oven, so they get crunchier. 

choco- protein cookies with aquafaba recipe: 

Okay, my dear flexible dieters, muscle builders, macro counters. Here is a recipe you will especially appreciate. 

2/3 cup vegan chocolate protein powder of choice (I used Orgain. Code IVYCHAN for 30% off on your first purchase).
1 cup coconut sugar (or stevia, or another powdered sweetener of choice)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup nut butter. (If you are watching calories/carbs, you might want to use one of the low-calorie peanut-butter brands.)
1/2 cup aquafaba (water from a can of chickpeas)
Mix, bake at 345 degrees, do the chopstick (or toothpick) trick (see above), take them out when they are done, and enjoy!

matcha cookies as a sweet pick-me-up

These are really satisfying to me. I usually eat a lot, but I cannot have more than a couple of these. They make me full more easily for some reason. Why do you think that is? Can that be matcha!?!

Either way, I would take these with me to work for that 10am/3pm laziness and yawning. They are a sweet way to get your caffein-fix.

1 cup almond flour
2 cups coconut oil
1/2 cup agave or carob molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tbsp of matcha powder
1 tsp maca powder

Mix bake enjoy:)

choco chip cookies with almond flour

If you are a crunchy-cookie kind of person, you will like these more than, say, the coconut cookies. Or, you might want these on a day when you’re angry or frustrated with life. Because, apparently, craving for crunchy things is a sign of wanting to deal with anger. Isn’t that interesting? If you crave for chocolate pudding, that particular craving signifies a different emotional need that the craving for potato crisps (chips, as my American friends say) does. That said, we should not try to satisfy the emotional needs through eating cookies, should we? Because a) it never works and b) we should enjoy the food for the sake of the food. But we’ll save this discussion for another post. Let us mindfully focus on the cookies for now!

1 cup almond flour and 1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
1/4 cup chocolate chips (if you are caffeine-free, or off-chocolate for another reason, try to sub with carob chips. I tried and they were delicious ).
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup carob molasses (or you can use agave or another sticky sweetener).
2 tbsp almond milk
1tsp vanilla extract

Mix everything (the last to mix should be the carob chips). Bake everything. Enjoy with everyone you love ❤ 

Sugar-free Diet cookies with extra protein  

I made these oil and sugar-free protein breakfast cookies for my little brother. He is my favourite person, with the kindest heart, the wittiest mind, and the most charming smile. And he is a real cookie monster. I mean, I do like my cookie, but his love for cookies is an entirely different phenomenon! So instead of letting him buy all those processed snacks, I wanted to make him a healthy, nutritious cookie. They are not only oil and sugar-free and loaded with protein. They are also full with fiber, as the main ingredient is oats. Fiber will keep you full, and help regulate digestion.

I suggest you have these with something sweet, like your favourite jam, or a homemade Nutella (like my adaptogenic, nut-free Nutella). An alternative would be having them with your favourite paste, olive spread, or chocolate hummus, even. 

Here is the recipe:

1 cup gluten-free oats
1 cup peanut butter (any nut or seed butter would do )
1 large banana
1 tsp pumpkin spice
1 tsp maca
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp coconut milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 scoop vanilla protein powder.

Again, you mix, you bake, and you enjoy!

Don’t forget to send me a line if you do try any of these. Let me know also, in case you have any questions!