Quinoa cookies
Brigham Young University’s alumni magazine just ran a story on some researchers who are distributing quinoa cookies to starving populations. The idea is that quinoa is a very nutritious food that is high in protein, important for people in third-world countries. 12 Stepper Kris and I have altered the recipe that ran in that publication to be much more healthy, so you can enjoy it. You could give these cookies along with with a big baggie of fruits and veggies to your kids for a school lunch that has plenty of protein and is low in sugar but feels like a “treat.” If you like them and want to save time on school lunches, make and freeze a lot of them!
Kris also tells me that she often cooks up some quinoa (which takes only 10-15 mins.!) and puts any of the dressings in Ch. 3 of 12 Steps on it. She says she’s found every dressing she’s put on the quinoa to be yummy. I also recommend tossing in lots of your favorite raw veggies for a complete dinner that’s quick and easy.
Tip: If you are a vegan and don’t want to use an egg, instead put 1 Tbsp. of ground flax seed in 2 Tbsp. of water for a few minutes until it gels.
QUINOA COOKIES
1 cup quinoa flour (blend quinoa in BlendTec)
1 cup finely ground whole wheat flour
¼ cup Sucanat or honey
1 Tbsp. aluminum-free baking powder
½ cup coconut oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 organic, free-range egg
Add 1 tsp. at a time of water if needed for mixing. Mix all ingredients well and bake at 350 degrees for 8 mins.
Posted in: Recipes
The quinoa doesn’t need soaking first? Just take regular quinoa and grind to make the flour?
Right, no soaking, just grind the dry quinoa. It’s gluten free and low in phytates, so I don’t believe soaking is a big issue in this case.
I thought Quinoa had a bitter shell on it that needed to be rinsed off?
Although that is true, and it’s a good question I had, too, I have found that what I’ve been buying seems to be hulled/cleaned. These cookies certainly tasted fine and aren’t bitter, though when I cook with quinoa, I do rinse it.
Do you need to soak the wheat flour before using it in this recipe?
You could if there were enough liquid in this recipe, but there isn’t any water/kefir/yogurt in the recipe. (Most of my own recipes in Ch. 9 will be soaked.)
Kris made these adding 1/4 cup of peanut butter and sent me samples today: yum! A note to those who haven’t transitioned away from really sweet foods, the recipe posted here has HALF the sweetener of the original recipe. So, it will taste more like desserts you are used to if you double the sweetener. But this way, it’s better for you. 🙂
Robyn
Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe! I just made some and they turned out great! I did add some cranberries and kefir to mine so I could get a berry flavor and they tasted yummy. 🙂
My husband was kind enough to make me cookies. I thought they were going to be your normal, good old fashioned chocolate chip cookies. They weren’t. Oh boy. Maybe you have to be a green smoothie not used to sweets anymore kind of person. All I can say is that I am not that person.