Something Cookies and Cereal!

Yeah, that is kind of strange title for Cookies and Cereal isn't it? I'll tell you why I chose that name. Right after I made these cookie for the first time, I thought to myself... "Wow, that tastes just like something I used to eat before I changed to a real food diet!" - They are of course very addicting because they remind me so much of something I once loved but what was that something? I never figured it out. Even more interesting is how everyone who tasted them said a similar thing. They all said "Man, this tastes like something! but what?..."  - some had ideas or eventually figured it out but they were all different. One person said "It tastes just like a waffle cone!" and another replied "No, it tastes exactly like Cowtails!" (Those cylindrical carmel, cream filled chewy, candy sticks. Not an actual cow tail, lol.)

These cookies are super addictive and I usually end up eating half of them before I am even done baking them all. They are a thin cookie but they have a nice slightly crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside texture. I always bake these on parchment paper though because stick pretty bad, especially if you prefer to make them chewier, rather than crispier because they come off quite easily when cooked crisp but half of them tends to stay on the pan if you go for chewy. Or maybe that is just because I am always pulling them off while still warm and eating them long before they are ready, lol I am not sure. Either way, these taste great and are simply amazing and who here that has gone grain free doesn't miss cereal? ACTUAL cereal with a nice crisp texture that you toss into milk or milk substitute and eat freely? I know I have missed cereal desperately.

But now that I have experimented with my Something Cookies recipe, I have also discovered Something Cereal and it is fabulous in a bowl of Almond Milk. It's crispy, it's satisfying, it's sweet but nourishing, it's the perfect balance. I just make up a batch of Something Cereal, bake it and store in an air-tight container. Then for the next few days I can eat cereal and Almond Milk and be happy as a clam for breakfast. Well I suppose I should get to sharing the recipe, now shouldn't I?

Something Cereal before being baked.

"Something" Cookies:

We call these "Something" Cookies because everytime someone take a bite of one of these cookies for the first time they always say "This tastes just like something!" and my family has been back and forth about what they may or may not taste like but one thing is for sure, they taste absolutely amazing! and they remind

everyone of "Something"

1 cup Almond Flour

1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt

1/2 cup Maple Syrup

1 Egg OR Flax/Chia Gel if you are allergic to Eggs, though I haven't tried this, it should work.

Just throw all these ingredients into a single bowl and mix with a wooden spoon, couldn't be simpler. After it is all stirred together, you will see this is an incredibly runny cookie dough. That's okay, because you can just take a spoon or measuring spoon and spoon some out onto parchment paper lined baking pans. You may or may not want to butter or grease the parchment paper, I never do but it can stick if you don't. Smaller amounts are better because this will spread. I usually do about 1/4 of a tablespoon size cookies. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. I know that is quite a discrepancy but it depends on how crisp you want them. I usually do 12 minutes for my cookies.

***NOTES:  The longer you bake, the more crisp they will be. The less time you bake them, the harder they will be to remove from the parchment paper. Always allow to cool for several minutes before trying to remove them. The center of cookies that are baked less will be almost caramel like. The less you bake them, the chewier they will be when they are cooled. The longer you bake them, the crispier they will be when cooled and the easier they will be to remove from the pan after cooling. These cookies come out quite thin but they make up for it in flavor.

****TIPS: These would make great sandwich cookies if you put frosting in the middle OR they would be excellent Grain Free/Gluten Free ice cream sandwich cookies. 

*    "Something" Cereal:

Follow the same recipe as above only put tiny drops of batter, the size you desire. I aimed for about Pea sized drops and after baking they became Dime/Nickel sized cookie bites. Bake at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes depending on taste, you really do want these crisp, so try to let them bake until thoroughly cooked crisp. When cooked crisp they slide right off the parchment paper, even without buttering or greasing the

paper. Then store in a ziplock bag or air tight container and use as cereal, in a bowl of whatever milk or milk alternative that you want. Or you could use them as bite size cookies, snacks, trail mix addition or put them on top of ice creams, custards, etc. These are great in Almond Milk!

Until next time, Happy, Healthy baking to all!

Anyone tried making these? How did they turn out? Any suggestions for what else could be done with these? Or do you have a Grain Free Cereal recipe? Feel free to share in the comments below.

I participated in the Healthy 2Day Wednesday Link-Up! and the Monday Mania Blog Carnival!

Fruit Roll Cookie Fun

This is perhaps one of my favorites and the most exciting by far. GIANT Newton Cookies? How could that be anything but awesome. They are delicious and versatile, I bet they could be made a million ways. I just discovered this wonderful cookie dough last night through experimentation and I love it. I am going to call the cookie dough "Anything And Everything Cookies" because so many things can be done with this dough. Just in this single batch, I made these Giant Fruit Filled Roll Cookies and a batch of Over-Stuffed Thumb-Print Cookies. I had no problems rolling this dough out, no problems with this dough sticking and that is usually one of the biggest pitfalls of wheat/grain/gluten free baking.

Not only that but they have got a great texture once baked. Let me try to describe it, in the Fruit Filled Roll Cookies the texture is soft, very, very similar to a newton cookie. It holds up well as long as you aren't squishing or being otherwise rough with the Fruit Filled Roll Cookies, in other words, a toddler might have this squished all over them but an older child or adult could easily and fairly mess free, hold these in their hands and enjoy bite after bite of their deliciousness. The texture of the same dough baked into Thumb-Print Cookies is sturdy yet soft, it melts in your mouth and both versions offer a very satisfying bite. At the end of this I will include a picture of the Thumb-Print Version as well as some notes, ideas and suggestions for anyone interested in trying to make these. Now... what you've all been waiting for.... the recipe!

Fruit Filled Roll Cookies:
Prepare dough and filling or filling of choice.

Anything And Everything Cookie Dough:
3/4 Cup Tapioca Flour
1/2 Cup Coconut Flour
1/4 Cup Almond Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup OR Honey, Agave OR other similar Syrup of choice.
1/8 Teaspoon Molasses
1/4 Cup Melted Butter OR Butter Substitute OR Oil of choice if doing Dairy Free.
2 Eggs OR Flax/Chia Eggs if doing Egg Free

In a medium to large bowl, add Tapioca Flour, sift in the Coconut Flour and Baking Soda. Add Almond Flour, Sea Salt and mix dry ingredients thoroughly. In a medium bowl whisk the Syrup, Molasses, Butter and Eggs until well combined and almost completely uniform in color. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together with a wooden spoon. The dough should begin to form a ball, mix well and fold dough into itself a couple times. Refrigerate the dough for 2 to 24, I left mine in the fridge for about 12 hours before I began making my cookies.

Raisin Date Filling:
1/2 Cup Raisins
4-8 Dates, Pitted
1-3 Tablespoons Water

Place Raisins and Dates in the food processor, process until chunky. Add Water, 1 Tablespoon at a time, pureeing and checking consistency in between each addition because you want it to be somewhat paste-like or jam-like.

Preparing Fruit Filled Roll Cookies:
After dough is chilled thoroughly, remove from fridge and place between two sheets of parchment paper. With a rolling pin, roll dough out to about 1/8th inch thick and remove top layer of parchment paper. Cut trim edges to make a oblong rectangle of whatever size you wish. Also, just because mine were giant doesn't mean you couldn't divide the dough in half to make ones more newton size if you wish. Whatever size you decide, just have it rolled out about 1/8th inch thick, trim the edges but make it twice as wide as you want your cookie. Spread the filling or whatever filling you use on half of the sheet of cookie dough, leaving about a 1/4-1/2 inch naked edge to seal them shut with. Once filling is spread, using the parchment paper to help you, fold one half over the other, I suggest folding the empty half over the side with the filling. Seal all edges, including ends shut to help prevent filling from spilling out during baking. Just seal the edges by pressing them together and smoothing out the seam, nothing special, no egg white or any stickiness needed.

Baking Instructions:
Preheat over to 350 degrees. Bake Fruit Filled Roll Cookies in whole roll form for 12-14 minutes, mine baked 13 minutes exactly but all oven temperatures and times vary. Slice Fruit Filled Roll Cookies to any desired size after baking and cooling slightly. Mine were not hot but still warm when I sliced them. If you chose to just roll the chilled dough into 1-inch balls for Thumb-Print Cookies. I rolled mine, slightly flattened and then made a depression in the center. I filled them with a dollop of the Raisin Date Filling and baked them at 350 degrees for 9 minutes. So the baking time on them would be about 7-11 minutes at 350 degrees.

Notes And Suggestions:
You could fill either of these cookie types with 100% Pure Fruit Preserves, Jam, Jelly or Spread OR Nut or Seed Butters of any kind. The Thumb-Print Cookies might be good with Chocolate or Carob in the depressions. I bet you could fill both cookies with just about anything. Be creative! If you are going to fill them with a nut or seed butters, you may want to do this after baking. You could also just make the dough into plain cookies if you roll them out and flatten them with a fork or spoon. You could then Chocolate or Carob dip half the cookie and lay them out on parchment paper to firm OR drizzle with Chocolate or Carob. You could also bake them plain and spread them with whatever you'd like to personalize each cookie after baking. There's Frostings, Butter, Coconut Butter, Nut or Seed Butters, Jams or Fruit Spreads, etc. OR maybe put a small scoop of ice cream between two cookies and try it like an ice cream sandwich. Another thing you could consider is adding items to the dough and baking them that way, for instance Chocolate or Carob chip, raisins, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, etc. Or you could also possibly try rolling them out on parchment paper and using cookie cutters to make shaped cookies, the dough held up so well, I think it could probably handle it. The possibilities are endless, let your imaginations run wild, explore, have fun!

Happy, healthy baking to one and all!

Update: (2-12-2012) I made these again and used Apple-Pear filling this time, I simply simmered Apples and Pears, pureed and sweetened them and then thickened it with some Tapioca Starch. It was a bit thinner than my first filling but still delicious! I'll add more photos for reference.

This is me rolling out my dough, cutting the edges smooth, on the left and then on the right I re-rolled the dough slightly and added my Apple-Pear Filling.
This is just prior to rolling over and sealing the edges to form the cookie roll.
------------ ~ * ~ * ~ -----------
On the left is already baked and sliced roll cookies and on the right are the Apple-Pear Thumb-Print Cookies that I make with the left over dough from this. You could do more rolls but my Mother is particularly fond of the thumb-prints so I make plenty of those as well.

I participated in the Nutritious and Delicious Blog Hop!
Linked to Make Your Own! Monday.