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Chocolate Beet Cookies
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4.84 from 6 votes

Red Velvet Chocolate Beet Cookies

Tender and cake-like--like red velvet cake. Finish with a swirl of chocolate honey glaze and you’ve got a gold-medal winner of a cookie. Makes about 50 2-inch cookies.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Cookies, Dessert
Cuisine: Vegetarian
Keyword: beets, cookies, red velvet
Servings: 50 (2-inch) cookies.

Ingredients

Cookies:

  • 1 cup avocado or grapeseed oil
  • 1 cup honey
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup (3 to 4 beets), roasted (see note)
  • 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (see note)
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder (for our 7000 feet above sea level I used 1 ½ teaspoons)
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Chocolate Honey Glaze:

  • 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (55 to 70%)
  • 4 ounces avocado or grapeseed oil
  • 1 tablespoon honey

Instructions

Make the cookies:

  • Preheat oven to 350° F. Slip the skins from the roasted beets. Chop them into small pieces, by hand or in a food processor.
  • In a blender puree the oil, honey, eggs, orange zest and vanilla.
  • Measure 1 cup of the chopped beets and add to the blender. Puree until smooth. Marvel at the color. Pour into a large bowl.
  • Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the beet, oil, and egg puree, then beat with the whisk for at least a minute.
  • Drop by tablespoons (or a #70 ice cream scoop) onto silicone baking mat or parchment-lined baking sheets.
  • Bake about 10 minutes, until the center of a cookie springs back when touched with a finger. Cool. Remove from the baking sheet with a spatula. (You won’t be able to pick the cookies up before scraping them from the pan.)
  • Spread a teaspoon or so of Chocolate Honey Glaze on top of each cookie.

Make the Chocolate Honey Glaze:

  • Place the chocolate, oil and honey in the top of a double boiler, over gently boiling water; the upper pan should not touch the water.
  • When the chocolate is almost melted, remove from the heat. Whisk gently until the oil and chocolate are incorporated. Cool until spreadable but not cold.

Notes

  • Whole wheat pastry flour is 100% wheat, ground from low-protein softer wheat berries. You can substitute all-purpose flour or white pastry flour.
  • To roast beets, scrub but do not peel. Slightly trim the root and stem ends. Place them in a dish with about 1/2-inch of water. Cover with a lid or aluminum foil and bake at 350° F. for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the beets. Pierce, using a knife or carving fork, to check for tenderness. Allow to cool. Slip off the skins.