Guest Blogger: GMO-Free Girl – Coconut Quinoa Cookies!

Who doesn’t love cookies? Especially cookies made with quinoa, that totally justifies eating them, it’s protein! Tammi, from GMO-Free Girl has graciously shared her recipe below. Do check out her previous post Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash. Follow Tammi on her blog, Facebook,Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram account. Welcome back Tammi!

I recently stumbled upon a fabulous vegan cookbook just for baking called The Vegan Baker. There are so many drool worthy recipes that I can’t wait to try and these cookies were inspired by the Coconut Cookies. I highly recommend getting this book. Even if you’re not vegan, it’s a great way to add some healthy desserts into your life.

The original recipe used spelt or unbleached flour, but I decided that I would try a gluten-free version to satisfy all of you who are sensitive to gluten and I was happily surprised at how delicious they turned out! Last year my homeopathic doctor told me that I was sensitive to wheat and that I should cut it out of my diet. Well, who shouldn’t – most of the wheat products in America have added gluten them and now Monsanto has their hand in genetically modifying wheat, so I do my best to stay away from it as much as possible. And as always, buy organic! Just a little tip if you are going the regular route – spelt flour does contain gluten, but it is far less gluten than regular unbleached flour, so I recommend using spelt if you have it on hand.

The coconut really stands out in these cookies. And surprisingly, 1 cup of shredded coconut contains 2.68 grams of protein, 1.8 milligrams of iron, and 1.7 milligrams of zinc! I guess I should have titled them Protein Cookies – ha! These cookies are not only delicious, they are the healthy too! I’m not saying eat them all by yourself though – it’s always nice to share healthy things with those you love. Enjoy!

Quinoa Coconut Cookies

Inspired by the recipe from The Vegan Baker

Makes approximately 18 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp maca powder
• 1 cup Mascobado sugar (Alter Eco brand)
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 2 cups shredded coconut
• 1/3 cup almond milk
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 1/2 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine the the dry ingredients – flour, flaxseed, baking soda, maca powder, shredded coconut and salt.
3. In a separate smaller bowl combine the wet ingredients – milk, sugar, coconut oil, and flaxseed. Whisk thoroughly for about a minute until everything is well combined. Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until you get a dough like consistency.
4. You will need to wet your hands so the mixture doesn’t stick while you’re working with the dough. Grab a tablespoon of the mixture and squeeze it into a ball shape. FYI – rolling didn’t work to well for me – the cookies crumbled. I had to squeeze the dough first.
5. Place the balls onto a greased cookie sheet (parchment paper works great) and gently flatten them with your hand.
6. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms start to brown.
7. Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool. (about 10-15 minutes)
8. If you have a double broiler – you’re lucky. If you don’t, you can melt the chocolate chips in a glass bowl over boiling water in a saucepan. This method always works great for me, just make sure the boiling water does not touch the glass or it could crack.
9. Using a spoon, drizzle the chocolate over the cookies. You can alternatively dip one end of the cookie into the chocolate mixture as well. Either way it’s going to be yummy!