Date and Puffed Rice Cookies
You can prepare these spicy gluten-free and vegan cookies well ahead and pull from the freezer to slice and bake as needed. Or you can form the dough into small balls, flatten with the bottom of a class and bake right away.
Servings: 36 cookies
Calories: 29kcal
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seed see note
- 3 tablespoons warm water
- 3 cups puffed rice cereal (I used Arrowhead Mills puffed brown rice)
- 1 cup pitted dates
- 3 tablespoons avocado or grapeseed oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground white or black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Pinch fine sea salt
- Candied ginger optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix the ground flax seed with the warm water. Set aside to jell for at least 15 minutes, until it becomes thick and gelatinous. Put the puffed rice, dates, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, both white and cayenne peppers, salt, and the flax mixture in the work bowl of a food processor.
- Process 2 to 3 minutes, until the dough sticks together in a ball.
- On a piece of parchment or waxed paper, form the dough into a log about 12 inches long. Wrap the parchment around the dough and use it to round out the log. Freeze several hours or overnight, until firm enough to slice.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a couple of large baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice cookies about 1/4-inch thick and arrange on baking sheets about 1/2 inch apart. (see note) If you wish, press small pieces of candied ginger into the top of each cookie
- Bake 10 minutes or so, until the bottoms are light brown, darker than they were when you put them in the oven.
Notes
- For vegans, this gelatinous flax seeds and water mix replaces eggs. If you prefer, substitute an egg for the flax egg mixture. Cookies made with real egg take less time to bake than those with "flax egg".
- After slicing the cookies, if I have the time, I use my fingers to reshape the cookies so they are more round. Even though they come from a round log, slicing the log takes them out of round.
Nutrition
Calories: 29kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Fat: 1g | Potassium: 31mg | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 10IU | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 0.1mg