Flourless Chocolate Quinoa Cookies

I have found recently that bread causes my blood glucose levels to go higher than I want them to.  When you have been diagnosed as diabetic you have to be aware of these things. It is possible that I may not do well with wheat, so I am doing my best to cut bread and wheat out of my diet.  Because of this, I am very interested in flourless recipes. I also am interested in using quinoa as it is not only very healthy and high in protein, but it is also rather tasty.

Cooking Quinoa is a great site with lots of wonderful recipes that use quinoa, are healthy, and many are vegan.  Wendy even has some cook books you can buy for very reasonable prices. Inn the near future I have a vegan potluck to go to and I am thinking of  baking a batch of cookies from Wendy's site.

Wendy Polisi's Flourless Chocolate Quinoa Cookies

Vegetarian, Vegan, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Egg Free, Processor

• 2 flax/chia eggs (1 T flax meal + 1 T chia seeds + 6 T warm water)
• 1 cup blanched almonds (see note)
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1/3 cup almond butter
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• ¼ cup apple sauce
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ¾ cup vegan chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a small bowl combine flax meal (or ground flax seeds), chia seed and warm water.  Whisk well and set aside.
4. In the Sous Chef® food processor combine almonds and quinoa.   Process for 1 minute, or until you have a fine meal.  Add baking soda and salt and process until blended.
5. Heat a small saucepan to medium low and add almond butter and coconut oil.  Cook until coconut oil and almond butter are melted, whisking occasionally.  Add in apple sauce and maple syrup and whisk until heated through.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and flax/chia egg.
6. Add the warm almond butter mixture to your food processor and process until a dough has formed.  
7. Immediately add in the chocolate chips and process until chocolate is melted and blended, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary.
8. Roll the dough into small balls and flatten with your fingers.  (You could also use a fork.) 
9. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. Note:  To blanch whole almonds, boil water in a medium saucepan.  Add almonds and cook for one minute.  Drain and allow to cool slightly.  Peel almonds.  You may skip this step if desired.
11. Variations:
12. For double chocolate cookies, allow the batter to cool and stir in ½ cup vegan chocolate chips.
13. For Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies, stir in ½ cup chopped macadamia nuts just prior to cooking.
14. For Cherry Chocolate Cookies, stir in ½ cup dried unsweetened cherries just prior to cooking.