Flourless Monster Cookies

Thank you to my dear friend who shared this recipe with me. She got me hooked when she was kind enough to drop a few of these wonderful cookies by my place. This oh-so-yummy cookie recipe was created by Jennifer Raffoul and slightly tweaked by me. It is gluten-free and completely flourless!

Ingredients:

Makes 4 trays of cookies. Recipe can be halved.

3 heaping tablespoons flaxseeds

1 1/2 cup dark, unrefined cane sugar

¼ cup cane sugar

½  cup virgin coconut oil

1 ½ teaspoon natural vanilla

1 ½ cup nut butter (natural peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, pecan butter, chocolate-hazelnut butter, etc. I use chocolate-hazelnut butter and cashew butter). [See note below]

4 ½ cups old fashioned oats (certified gluten free, and not instant!)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda (aluminum free)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 ½ cup of stuff*

*I used ¾ cup chocolate chips (vegan) + 3/4 cup raisins (unsulphured). You can also use dried cranberries, peanut butter chips, other nuts, etc.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats. Prepare flaxseed (egg substitute) mixture. Finely grind the flaxseeds in a coffee grinder. Place in a bowl and add ¾ - 1 cup of water, stir well. Let sit for at least 5 minutes, the mixture will become gelatinous.

Cream coconut oil, nut butter and sugars together in mixer (or really fast with a whisk). Add flax mixture and vanilla. Mix to combine. In a separate bowl, toss oats, cinnamon, baking soda and sea salt together. Add the oat mixture to the bowl, and mix. Then slowly add the "stuff" and mix until it is incorporated. No need to worry about over-mixing because there is no flour.

Prepare to make your cookie balls: The dough is sticky so keep a bowl of water next to you to wet your fingers periodically to prevent sticking. Using a spoon, scoop the cookie dough. Use the palms of your hands to shape them into even flat circles, like hamburgers. Place on tray, about 2 inches apart. (Alternatively, scoop into balls and then flatten the tops a bit with the bottom of a glass.).

I prefer them to be large and chewy, so the dimensions I find work the best are: 1 cm (~ ½ inch) thick, and about 6-7 cm (~2 ½ inches) in diameter/width. Because the dough is sticky, making them large (and few) is also less cumbersome than making many small ones. Baking time depends on the preferred size and chewiness. For large chewy cookies, bake for about 15 minutes – removing from the oven and flipping them about 2/3 of the way through the baking time (ie after about 10 minutes). For small chewy cookies, bake for 10 minutes, flipping after 7 minutes. Remove from trays immediately and cool on a rack.

Note For Trinidadians:

For nut butters, a great tasting and vegan one you can buy commercially is ‘Justin’s Nut Butters’ brand, specifically the Chocolate-Hazelnut flavor. I haven’t been able to find it anywhere in T&T, but you can get it at Whole Foods in the US, or order it online.

Alternatively, you can make your own nut butters relatively easily. In a food processor mix your choice of nuts (I used ½ pound of roasted cashews, ¼ pound of raw almonds + ¼ pound of raw pecans. Agard’s Nut House sells these and other nuts. Let process until the natural oils come out. You can add a bit of coconut or other oil if necessary. Add cocoa and brown sugar to taste (I used about 4 tablespoons of cacao, and about 2 tablespoons of sugar).

You can also follow Beyond Vitality's Homemade Almond Butter recipe to make your own fresh nut butter to add in these cookies.