Cookies are one of those cooking preps that I love because they're not time consuming at all, so simple to make and effortless. Once you've find a good basic recipe you can have fun replacing some elements. That's what I do a lot with my oats, chocolate and macadamia cookies, sometimes I use hazelnuts or almonds instead, raisins, cranberries...
I also have these cute Christmas ginger cookies on the blog that I'll probably be doing very soon again cause Christmas time is approaching and they smell and taste so festive to me.
I wanted to try with new flavours and textures and after a few tests I ended up with this apple and coconut combo. Last time I made a huge batch and we had cookies for so many days. Cookies here and there.
The good part is as they are homemade they don't have any additives nor bad quality ingredients and that makes them much more enjoyable.
If you're going to use organic apples you can grate them without peeling them however if they're not I prefer doing so in order to avoid all the pesticides and wax they normally have. As you will see below these quantities make 30 cookies so If you rather making less then you can use just half of the ingredients.
I rarely make any dessert without some kind of spice. Well actually I rarely make any recipe without any spice. They're always present and this time cinnamon and star anise are there.
I recently posted on Instagram a picture of cinnamon sticks, it's one of my very favourites. Both on sweet and savoury dishes. Yes, also on savoury as with this roasted zucchini soup, or the Moroccan pastela...so yummy, or the Thai Massaman curry...
When I traveled to Vietnam I saw freshly pulled out cinnamon in the middle of the jungle and I as impressed. It's the inner bark of the cinnamomun tree that is dried out and then rolled up to make the sticks. It can also be bought in their natural shape, that's how I saw them there and the same my family brought me from India. At first glance it looks like a common piece of tree bark but when you crack it and releases all its amazing and powerful aroma it's just amazing. These pieces are then grounded to make the cinnamon powder we all know and buy.
That was the time I found out the difference between that and the cinnamon we buy at any grocery store. Also the cinnamon sticks gather much more aroma and intensity, it also lasts longer than the powder... So just same as the rest of spices it is always best to buy the seeds and then use a mortar and pestle or an electric grinder.
So after getting lost in the endless spice world... here's the recipe for this apple coconut cookies, they are gluten and dairy free with a vegan option.
APPLE AND COCONUT COOKIES RECIPE
INGREDIENTS (Makes 30 cookies)
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 1 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 2 red apples, grated
- 1/2 cup brown or coconut sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 Tbsp. ground flax seeds + 4 Tbsp water (soaked a few minutes) OR 2 eggs
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 Tbsp star anise powder
METHOD
- Preheat oven to 180ºC.
- Grate the apples and drain the liquid (don't throw it away, it's a delicious juice)
- Mix all the wet ingredients: apple + soaked flax seeds +coconut oil.
- Add the dry ingredients: almond meal+ rice flour + coconut + sugar+ salt + baking soda + cinnamon and star anise. Mix it all well.
- Line some silicone mats or baking paper over an oven tray.
- Give the cookies the shape of your choice and place in the tray.
- Bake for about 28-30 minutes being vigilant so they don't burn.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack, allow to cool for 10 minutes.
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