Grain-Free Almond Cookies

Michael and I postponed our Valentines Day until today - we're eating out tonight.  Last night was entirely taken up with my monthly Board meeting at our UU church.  These meetings are always packed full of agenda items, and run 2 hours without fail - last night's went 2 1/2 hours. We got a lot of important decisions made, but even at that we dropped a few items off the list until next month, and by the time I got home, we were eating leftover roast chicken and veggies at 10:00 pm.

Earlier in the day, though, I had a little burst of energy (nice to get those back!) and cleared out the kitchen cupboards, wiped them down with my All-Purpose Cleaner, tossed expired food items and the last remnants of processed foods (especially those containing wheat), and organizing the rest - I think I managed to reclaim at least half the space after several months of declaring how much I hated how little space we had and how much we 'needed' another pantry solution.

What's left in there now are just a few cans (coconut milk, black olives, green chiles, canned tomato products, and some unsweetened canned fruit are all that's left), pretty much no boxed items, some non-refrigered baking supplies, packages of dried fruit and nuts, and tea. Lots and lots of tea varieties, because I have become slightly obsessed with tea lately.  The rest of our food supplies live in the refrigerator and freezer, including the almond and coconut flour that has replaced my wheat flours.

After that was done, I made up a batch of cookies - I wanted to try a very simple recipe, to get a feel for how it might work as a base for variations, and I think it does fine.  Unlike regular cookie dough, this seems to need to be 'squished' together to form balls, and the finished result is more crumbly - I think that is simply an aspect of working with nut flours that have no elasticity from gluten.  Other than that, though, they were very tasty and I think could easily be jazzed up with some dark chocolate chips, chopped nuts, raisins, a bit of cocoa added, or whatever one might like.  Depressing the middle instead of using a fork to flatten would also turn these into a good thumbprint cookie to be filled with jam or lemon curd or the like.

The best part - as long as you're ok with the sugar from the honey, this is simply good for you food - nuts and coconut oil! So you can enjoy without worry.

Here's the recipe - see how many ways  you might jump off from here:

Grain-Free Almond Cookies
(makes 18 cookies)

2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt
4 Tblsp coconut oil
8 Tblsp raw honey (or maple syrup, or other liquid sweetener)
2 tsp vanilla extract

Melt the coconut oil if it's solid, and combine with the honey and vanilla in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix together the almond flour, baking soda, and sea salt, breaking up any clumps (I use a large whisk to do this).  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly to combine.  It may still feel 'crumbly' rather than come together - try to squish a small ball together and if it doesn't hold, you may need to add just a little more coconut oil and honey to the mix.

Shape into small balls, about the size of a walnut, and place on a cookie sheet that's been covered with a sheet of parchment paper.  These cookies do not spread, so use a fork, your finger, or the bottom of a glass to flatten them.

Bake at 325F for about 8 minutes, until slightly browned. 

Enjoy!

Shared with: What I Am Eating, Simple Meals Friday, Gluten-Free Friday, Fresh Bites Friday, Foodie Friday, Simple Living Foodie Friday, Fight Back Friday, Foodtastic Friday, Show and Tell Friday, Frugal Friday, Freedom Fridays, Farm Girl Friday, LHITS DIY Linkie, Get Real Frugal Friday, No Rules Weekend Party, Your Great Idea Link Party, A Favorite Thing, One Creative Weekend, Sweet Saturday Link Party, Show & Tell Saturday, Simply Natural Saturday, Get Schooled Saturday, Weekend Show Off, Think Pink Sunday, Sunday Show Off Linky Party, Sunday School Blog Party, Craft - Create - Inspire, Creative HomeAcre Hop, Just Something I Whipped Up, Busy Monday, Mop It Up Monday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, My Meatless Mondays, On the Menu Monday, Mom's Test Meal Monday, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Mealtime Monday, Make Your Own Monday, Mop It Up Monday, Mix It Up Monday, Marvelous Monday, Monday Funday, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Make It Yourself Monday, Made By You Monday, Homestead Barn Hop, Craft-O-Maniac Monday, Nomday Monday, Natural Living Monday, Motivated Monday, Motivate Me Monday, Mostly Homemade Mondays, Family Table Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Hearth & Soul Hop, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Traditional Tuesdays, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Backyard Farming Connection, Trick or Treat Tuesday, Tuesday Greens, Tutorial Tuesday, You're Gonna Love It Tuesday, Eco-Kids Tuesday, How To Tuesday.
and..
Foodie Friends Friday Cookie Party.