Turmeric & Almond Cookies
My oven is mostly used to roast vegetables (during the last couple of weeks, it roasted an obscene amount of beets and onions) and to make bean casseroles and kale chips. The occasional loaf of bread also comes out of it but cakes and cookies really are a from-time-to-time affair. I have way more ideas for savory dishes than I have for desserts so, whenever I have an idea for a sweet treat, I put my hands to work.
These gluten free turmeric-almond cookies are dead simple to make. The dough comes together in a breeze and you don’t even have to roll it. They aren’t overly sweet and I like to eat them plain, but you can definitely slather them with a fruit compote or marmalade if you wish. As I’m writing this, it comes to my mind that you could add some caraway seeds to the dough or use orange zest instead of lemon. Turmeric is a spice with a mild earthy taste, so a few additional flavours are always welcomed. 
Turmeric & Almond Cookies
(makes about 30 cookies)
90 g / ¾ cup peeled almonds
105 g / 3/4 cup brown rice flour
60 g / ½ cup corn flour
60 g / ½ cup quinoa flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
zest of one lemon
125ml / ½ brown rice syrup
80 ml / 1/3 cup olive oil
In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the almonds for 4 to 5 minutes, or until they’re golden brown. Let them cool and, once cooled, grind them in a food processor until you a fine meal.
Add the almond meal, brown rice, corn and quinoa flours, salt, turmeric and lemon zest to a large bowl. Mix everything together. In a separate bowl, combine the brown rice syrup with the olive oil.
Add the wet mixture to the dry one and mix, forming a dough. Cut the dough into two equal pieces. In a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of dough into a log with roughly 4 cm in diameter. Wrap the logs tightly with cling film and seal the ends with kitchen twine. Put the logs in the freezer for 45 minutes to an hour, to firm up. In the meantime, Pre-heat the oven to 180C /350F.
Once the logs have chilled, cut them into 0.7-1 cm disks. Place the disks in a large baking tray lined with parchment paper. Since the cookies won’t rise much while baking, you can put them close together. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Tahini Cookies
These tahini cookies might be one of my favorite cookies right now. As I’ve told in a previous post, I like my cookies with not too much added fat and sugar, and I guess these ones fit the bill just right. They have tahini in there, which is their main source of fat, but at least it’s that of a good and healthy type. The taste of these cookies is quite nutty and dense, and the fact that they are coated in muscavado sugar and sesame seeds, adds crunchiness and extra flavor to them. I encourage you to use organic, dark tahini in here, as it is the variety that packs more flavor - the white one is usually a bit mild and bitter. An extra bonus: the cookies are also gluten free.
Tahini Cookies
(makes about 18)
1 and ¼ cups (125 grams) spelt flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (60 grams) plus 1/3 cup light muscavado sugar
1/3 cup sesame seeds
½ cup (115 grams) dark organic tahini
1/3 cup (75 grams) apple purée
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1. In a large bowl, and with the help of an electric mixer, combine the tahini, apple purée, ½ cup of muscavado sugar and the sesame oil, until you have a smooth batter.
2. Sift the flour into another large bowl. Add the baking soda and salt and mix well.
3. Slowly pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture, mixing everything with a spatula as you go, until you have a soft dough. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic, and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 180ºC – racks in the top and bottom third of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. In a bowl, mix the sesame seeds with the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar.
6. Cut two rectangles of parchment paper. Place one of the sheets of paper on a clean surface and evenly spread half of the sesame seeds and sugar mixture over it.
7. Unwrap the dough and place it in the center of the sheet of parchement paper in which you’ve spread out the sesame seeds and sugar. Now, you want to use the other sheet of parchment paper, and roll out the dough between the two sheets, to a rough circle 24 centimeters in diameter.
8. Spread the remaining sesame seeds and sugar over the circle of dough, and gently press it down with your hands to make them stick to the dough.
9. With a cookie cutter, stamp out rounds of dough and place them in the prepared baking sheets. The cookies won’t spread out that much while baking, so you can put them close together.
10. Bake the cookies for 10 to 11 minutes. Don’t overbake them, or they’ll get dry.
11. Let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. The cookies will keep, stored in an airtight container, for up to 5 days.
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