Almond Shortbread Cookies
They kind of resemble something a constipated moose would pass; that fact alone endeared these cookies to me.
For some reason I really wanted an almond flavored cookie today. As I really don't eat added sugar or starches, that want was a bit of a challenge.
Never one to shy from a food experiment, I set some parameters for my cookie recipe:
It had to be low carb
It had to be grain free
It had to be sugar free
It had to be dairy free
It really needed to taste at least somewhat like the almond butter shortbread cookies that I enjoyed in Chinatown in San Francisco a long, long time ago.
So, almond flour makes an entrance into this cooking fracas. I don't know about ya'll, but as appreciative as I am for almond flour, I am kind of burnt out on it. So I threw a cup of it in my mixing bowl and decided to let it have a mixer with a friend.
That friend would be coconut flour. I use the Bob's Red Mill kind, but instead of buying it in little bags, I get it in bulk from this fabulous store that we have in the Pacific Northwest, Winco.
Now, Bob's website says that coconut flour should replace up to 20% of your flour in a recipe. Since I am just seat of the pantsing this whole little experiment, I plopped a whole cup of coconut flour into the mixing bowl.
On top of that I added an 1/8th of a teaspoon of stevia powder and 1/8th of a teaspoon of sea salt. Then I turned on my trusty old Lime-aid mixer and gave the dry ingredients a whirl.
Next, I added 1/2 cup organic, extra virgin coconut oil, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of almond extract, and mixed until the mixture resembled the crumbs at the bottom of a cake plate. I didn't like the consistency, so I added 2 Tablespoons of unsweetened almond milk and mixed it some more.
Now we were getting somewhere! I was able to make a little teaspoon sized ball.
Well, I made a bunch of round little cookie shapes out of my crumbly dough and baked them on a parchment lined tray at 300 degrees for 12 minutes.
Verdict:
The Good:
Butter and almond flavor explosion! These cookies could double as an air freshener.
Husband grabbed one, popped it into his mouth, and said. "Whoa! These are good!!!"
Relevant Side Note: Husband is honest to the point of needing censorship in public places. He will tell you his complete, unadulterated opinion on anything at anytime. This is not an exaggeration.
After eating a couple, I no longer craved any cookies.
The Not So Good:
There's something about coconut flour that really gets to me. When you are chewing it, it's like you have ran face first into a sawdust pile and are attempting to give a soliloquy on the merits of developing a blog post on a semi-okay paleo cookie recipe on Steemit with a mouth full of ground tree dust.
I just used stevia, as I am not using any sweeteners at all as of late. It's okay, but there is a bit of an aftertaste that I don't like.
Almond flour: "You are so awesome, yet I am bored of your texture and taste. It's totally you and not me, we might have to have a trial separation for awhile; I need to hang with other ingredients."
All in all, it wasn't a failed experiment, and I even enjoyed my little snack. They would be very tasty dipped in chocolate. Also, like everything that is made with stevia, it totally tastes better after sitting for awhile, so I have that to look forward too.
I'll include the recipe in the name of transparency. Perhaps one of the amazing Paleo Steemians have an fantastic cookie recipe that they wish to share or could augment this one into something even tastier than it is!
Almond Shortbread Cookies
(gluten free, grain free, dairy free, sugar free)1 cup almond flour
1 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 and 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/8 tsp stevia extract (powdered)
1/8 tsp salt
2-6 Tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (You get to choose the consistency of your dough, there isn't much difference taste and texture wise no matter how much or how little milk you add.)Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix dry ingredients together, then beat in coconut oil and almond extract until mixture is thoroughly crumbly in appearance. Beat in almond milk. Roll dough into 1 inch sized balls and bake on a parchment lined, greased, or silicon lined cookie sheet for 12-15 minutes. Remove and enjoy! This recipe made about 24 moose nugget sized cookies.
As always, the photos in this post were taken on the author's coconut flour dusted iPhone.