Crisp, spicy and naturally sweetened, these cookies deliver satisfaction along with the pleasure – a missing ingredient in most cookies. You know the situation. Once you have one ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookie, you want MORE. One down, you reach for another, but break it in half, denying yourself the pleasure of Whole. Resistance for the other half is futile. You do it again. Or maybe you stop yourself. Sometimes I allow myself to navigate this minefield, but there are times I want a more peaceful experience. I want to be able to enjoy a cookie or two, and be done. Be satisfied. Go on with my day without fighting the cravings. This cookie does that for me. Thank you to the creator, Rebecca Katz (check out her IACP award winning book: The Cancer Fighting Kitchen).
(This recipe uses barley and spelt flours but it seems to me that it would work well with gluten free flours, like an all-purpose GF base and some buckwheat or teff. I haven’t tried it, but when I do I will use 2 or 2 ⅓ cups all-purpose GF and ⅓ – ⅔ cup buckwheat or teff.)
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 2/3 cup sucanat
- 1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
- 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 Tbsp. ground ginger
- 1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. ground cloves
- ¼ tsp. sea salt or mineral salt
- 1 egg
- 1 1/3 cup barley flour
- 1 1/3 cup spelt flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ¾ cup pecans, roughly chopped
- 3 Tbsp. candied ginger pieces
Instructions
- In small saucepan, combine coconut oil, sucanat, molasses, butter, and spices. Bring to boil and stir until sucanat is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Prepare a standard loaf pan (8.5 x 4.5 inches) by lining it with two sheets of plastic wrap, one crosswise, one lengthwise, with several inches of overhang.
- Combine flours and baking soda in a mixing bowl.
- Add egg to cooled saucepan mixture and mix well with wooden spoon. Pour over flour mixture and mix well. Stir in the pecans and candied ginger. Turn out into prepared loaf pan and smooth top so dough loaf is an even thickness. Fold the overhanging plastic wrap over the dough loaf and press gently to seal. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or ideally, overnight. (Dough will keep in the refrigerator for several days and also freezes well. Baked cookies freeze well too.)
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line cookie sheet plan with parchment paper or Silpat liner. Very thinly slice the dough across the width of the loaf using a chef's knife - aim for about graham cracker thickness for each. One loaf yields 36 cookies.
- Bake for 7 - 9 minutes, until edges just start to brown. Cool on sheet pan 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack. Cookies will crisp up when cool.
