Vegan Teff Spice Cookies

Cookie love! I having been thoroughly enjoying the teff flour I purchased  from NutsOnline last week and have already made these little gems along with several batches of gluten free flatbread that I will post soon. I can’t believe I hadn’t tried teff previously – I was missing out!

According to J. Fedder at Associated Content, teff is a “super grain powerhouse”! Teff is a gluten-free grain that is low-fat, high in fiber and protein, packed with vitamins and minerals, and contains all 8 essential amino acids. This tiny grain is also beneficial for diabetics since it’s great for controlling blood sugar with its dietary fiber and resistant starch.  In a nutshell, I need to incoporate more teff into my diet…why not start with cookies, does that count? 🙂

If you can’t find teff flour locally, check it out here at NutsOnline – they offer it for $4.99 per 1 pound bag 🙂

I adore molasses-ginger type cookies and this recipe was inspired by the lovely Amy Green and her Teff Almond Butter Cookies over at her Simply Sugar and Gluten Free blog! This recipe yields a soft and chewy cookie with a bit of spice without eggs, refined sugar, butter, gums or added oil. I froze a few cookies and they were even delicious straight from the freezer – amazing! Amy created a delicious ice-cream sandwich with her cookies – my spice cookies would be lovely with some cinnamon ice cream in the middle!

Vegan Teff Spice Cookies (adapted from Amy’s Teff Almond Butter Cookies)

Ingredients

1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon chia seed meal (ground chia seeds)
3/4 cup teff flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 shakes of ground cloves (or two pinches)
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup maple syrup, honey (not vegan), agave or gluten-free brown rice syrup
1 tsp gluten free vanilla extract
1/2 cup almond butter

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line one baking sheets with silpat mat or parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the applesauce and chia seed meal and set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the teff flour, sea salt, spices, and baking powder and set aside. In a separate bowl, heat the almond butter for about 20 seconds in the microwave. Stir the honey, vanilla, and applesauce-chia mixture into the warm almond butter. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients, then stir to combine.
4. Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough into 12 cookies and roll each one. Set them on the prepared cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart from each other. Use the tines of a greased fork to press down the center of the cookie (optional, or you can slightly flatten). Bake for 10 – 13 minutes until the cookies are set, mine took 10 and a 1/2 minutes. *Make sure not to overbake, the cookies will be soft in the middle and chewy.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature or freeze (both are delicious!)

Makes 12 cookies

This recipe is featured at Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays at Amy’s Simply Sugar and Gluten Free blog this week!