Chocolate Bites - oaty almond flour cookies studded with crunchy cacoa nibs and rolled in cocoa. Gluten free little nibbles that satisfy your cookie cravings. (Skip to recipe.)
Happy Spring everybody!
Was it only a week ago that I was lamenting our miserable winter weather and hoping it would soon be over? Silly me. Not only has it stubbornly stuck around, it's gotten WORSE, much worse! Roads impassable, vehicles in ditches everywhere, and snow and wind unrelenting all day long. Springtime in Alberta - full of surprises .
This is what it looked like outside my back door as soon as it got light this morning.
(If there are any signs of spring there, they're well hidden under a thick blanket of the white stuff.)
And this is what our road looked by noon:
I needed to venture into the city for an appointment, but I only made it a few kilometres down the highway before I came to a standstill behind a long row of big trucks and vehicles held up by an accident ahead. As I waited to inch forward, a white car, unable to stop, came careening wildly out of control along the shoulder just inches from my van and then flew into the ditch, trailing a spectacular spray of snow. The occupants were unhurt (I saw them shakily emerge from the car). I only hope the victims in the accident up ahead were as lucky.
That was enough for me. As soon as I reached the next exit, I turned around and cautiously drove back home. I cancelled my appointment and called the friend whom I had been planning to meet for coffee afterward. She doesn't live too far away and decided to brave the roads and come over instead.
Cookies and cocooning were in order. Or cocooning and cookies - in any order. Tea was in order, too.
Hot milky tea and warm-from-the-oven cookies, soft and oaty inside - chocolatey and crispy outside, were what we needed as we watched the snow swirling outside the windows. I stirred up the batter, she helped me roll, then we sat to visit and drink tea while the cookies baked.
These Oaty Chocolate Bites are not your ordinary oatmeal cookies - they are so much more. Cookie nirvana.
Flowers, buds and blossoms? Greens and brights and colours? They'll come - just not quite yet. It's springtime in Alberta.
Have another cookie and pour yourself another cup of tea.
* * * * *
Kitchen Frau Notes: I had Snickerdoodles on my mind when I developed the recipe for these cookies, but every time I made them I changed and tweaked them until they really don't resemble Snickerdoodles in any way except for the bit of cinnamon in the dough and the idea of rolling the cookies in cocoa sugar instead of the cinnamon sugar. These addictive little cookies have a dense oatiness that is comforting, and a lovely crunch from the nuts and cacao nibs. Though, if you can't get cacao nibs, you can just substitute with another ¼ cup chopped walnuts.
Use melted coconut oil instead of butter to make these dairy free.
The powdered psyllium husk is an ingredient worth hunting down. I find it does a wonderful job of holding the dough together when I use alternative whole grain flours, like nut flours and the oat flour in these cookies. You can find it in health stores and natural food stores, and once you've got some in your cupboard, you won't have to go hunting it down too often - it lasts a long time.
Oaty Chocolate Bites
- ½ cup (50gms) almond meal/flour
- 1 cup (125gms) oat flour (gluten free if necessary)
- ½ cup quick-cooking rolled oats (small flake, but not instant)
- 1 tablespoon powdered psyllium husk
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup (60ml) melted butter
- 6 tablespoons (90ml) liquid honey
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup (60gms) finely chopped walnuts
- ¼ cup (60ml) cacao nibs
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons sugar
Preheat oven to 350°F.
With an electric mixer or by hand, stir together the almond flour, oat flour, quick oats, psyllium husk, baking powder and cinnamon.
Add the melted butter, honey and egg and beat until well combined. Stir in the chopped nuts and cacao nibs.
The mixture will be quite soft. Let it sit for 15 minutes to an hour to allow the psyllium husk powder and rolled oats to absorb some of the moisture.
In a small bowl combine the sugar and cocoa powder. Roll the batter into balls, using about 2 tablespoons for each one. Roll the balls in the sugar and cocoa mixture and place them on greased or parchment paper lined cookie sheets.
Using the bottom of a drinking glass, flatten each ball to about ½ inch (1cm) thick.
Place in the preheated oven and bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes.
Let cool on wire racks.
Makes 20 cookies.
Guten Appetit!
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