Quinoa Biscotti

There's nothing better on a winter evening than biscotti and something hot to drink.  These are delicious!  And if you can eat it, would probably be great with half dipped in melted chocolate.

Quinoa Biscotti

1 3/4 cups quinoa flour
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup toasted almond slivers or pieces ( or 3/4 cup dried fruit pieces)
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup organic sugar
2T ground flax mixed with 6T water and cooked in microwave 1 min. or 2  eggs
1 T homemade vanilla

For quinoa flour, I grind sprouted, dried quinoa in a small blender (TriBest Personal Blender).  I usually use TruRoots sprouted quinoa.  If you don't have allergies you're trying to avoid cross contamination with, there are already ground quinoa flours you can buy.

Combine all ingredients and knead a few times until well mixed.  Divide dough into two pieces.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and press each section of dough into a 12 x 4 inch rectangle that is about 1 inch high.  Bake at 300 degrees for 25 - 28 minutes or until set in the center and a nice golden color.  Cool until still warm, but not too hot to handle.

Cut crosswise into pieces about 3/4 inch thick.  Turn slices so a cut edge is down and rebake (still at 300 degrees) for about 15 minutes until edges are golden.  Cool completely.

Almond Cookies

These are amazing, whether or not you have tons of allergies!  If you bake them for around 18 minutes, they turn out crunchy and if you cook them around 15 minutes (they'll still look too soft), they turn out chewy.  I follow the instructions on The Nourishing Cook for soaking and drying almonds before using them - it makes them easier to digest and makes the nutrients more available.  I also grind my own almond meal, flax, and powdered sugar using a Tri-Best Personal Blender with the grinding blades.

Almond Cookies
3 1/2 cups almond meal
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar (I grind my own from organic cane sugar)
2 T ground flax
1 tablespoon homemade vanilla
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. baking soda

1.  Mix the ground flax with 6 T water and microwave for about 1 minute.

2.  Mix together all dry ingredients.  Add the cooked flax and vanilla and mix thoroughly.  I finish it up by hand kneading the mixture to make sure it's all mixed.

3.  Roll dough into balls (about 1 1/2 inches diameter) and place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  Flatten with the palm of your hand or a glass.  Press an almond sliver into the center.

4.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes.  Let cool.

Sunflower Butter Cookies

I was about to try grinding my own sunflower seed butter when I found Sunbutter's Organic variety.  It's only sunflower seeds and is made in a peanut and tree nut free facility.  I generally don't buy anything premade because of the risk of cross-contamination, but this looked worth a shot!  It's really good - reminiscent of peanut butter, but different too.  And I seem to be fine with it.

It's taken several tries to get a decent cookie, but these aren't bad! In fact, I'm going to have to limit how often I bake them if I want to keep fitting in my clothes.

If you decide to try your own recipes with sunflower seed butter, this is what I found on the Sunbutter site:

When baking with SunButter® you must cut back the amount of baking soda / powder into about half of what the recipe asks for. This is done to avoid any discoloration that will occur from the reaction between the chlorophyll present in sunflower seeds and the baking soda / powder. This reaction does not make the recipe harmful to consume but may not be visually appealing. This reaction may also be counteracted by adding a small amount of lemon juice to the recipe.

Apparently it turns whatever you're baking a dark greenish color.  Hmmm.  I decided to just leave the baking soda out - my old recipe didn't call for that much anyway.

Sunflower Seed Butter Cookies - makes about 3 dozen

1 1/4 cups rice flour
1 cup sunflower seed butter
1/2 cup Spectrum palm shortening
1/2 cup organic sugar
1/2 cup packed organic brown sugar
2 batches flax egg substitue
1 tsp. home made vanilla

Cream sunflower seed butter, shortening, and the sugars.  Add flax mixture and vanilla.  Add in the flour.  Roll into approximately 1 inch balls and place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Flatten with a fork, making a criss cross pattern.  Sprinkle with white sugar and a pinch of sea salt crystals.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes.  Leave on the pan for a few minutes before removing them to paper towels to cool.