Chewy chocolate quinoa cookies

I’m loving all the healthy high protein ‘flour’ subs i’m trying out at the moment. First it was with whole buckwheat groats (still plenty of those recipes to come) and now it’s also with quinoa.  I mentioned before that I was having a big quinoa kick this month, incorporating it in all sorts of recipes both sweet and savoury. It’d such a versatile ingredient and it’s nutritional profile is hard to beat.

I cook batches of quinoa to freeze in cup sized portions, so it’s so easy to add to any recipe or salad at a moment notice.  This cookie experiment therefore took me literally minutes to throw together and was such a success I’ll definitely be trying it out again very soon. I used cacao nibs to make sure I kept to my sugar free Lent Challenge, you could also use regular dairy free dark chocolate chips if you prefer and for a little extra indulgence I may well give this a go next time, although to be honest I quite liked the bitter crunchy contrast of the nibs.

The coconut flakes combined with the quinoa make for a really soft and chewy cookie. The peanut butter helps bind and gives a mildly peanutty taste but you could sub for cashew or almond butter if you want the chocolate to do all the talking.

Recipe: Chewy chocolate quinoa cookies

Makes 8 small cookies

Ingredients

1 cup cooked quinoa

¼ cup peanut butter (add a pinch of salt if not salted)

¼ cup homemade date syrup and a pinch of stevia (you could use 3 tbs maple syrup of agave if you prefer)

¼ cup unsweeteneed dessicated coconut flakes

¼ cup cocoa nibs or dark choc chips

3 tbs cocoa powder

Method

Mix the peanut butter and date syrup and melt a little in a the microwave on low power if not already drippy. Mix through the remaining ingredients until fully coated.

Scoop into fat cookie dollops and place on a lined baking sheet. Bake at a fairly low temperature (I opted for 160C so as not to risk burning the date syrup) for 10-15 minutes until slightly golden. The cookies will be soft when they come out of the oven and will firm up to touch as they cool but remain soft in the centre.

 


For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

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