The Peterborough Examiner

These cutout cookies are spooktacul­ar

- Maggie Savage

When my kids were little, Halloween day was always a long day — they were so excited about going trick-or-treating. This year it could seem even longer if your kids aren’t going door to door because of COVID-19 restrictio­ns. Hopefully you have some fun activities planned, and now you can add baking these spooktacul­ar cookies to your list.

These cookies are made with teff flour. I buy mine at our local bulk food store, The Main Ingredient. They have everything you need for this cookie recipe. Teff is a nutritious gluten-free grain. I also use it in my glutenfree gingerbrea­d cookie recipe. It pairs really well with chocolate and warm fall spices.

We usually decorate our cutout cookies with icing, but my kids think they taste good plain, too! Have a spooktacul­ar Halloween!

Gluten-Free and Vegan Chocolate Cutout Cookies

Yield: 24 cutout cookies of various sizes

Ingredient­s:

1/2 cup coconut oil, room temperatur­e

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon ground chia combined with 1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon psyllium seed husks

1 cup teff flour, plus a little extra for rolling

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoon­s milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment.

2. Cream coconut oil, coconut sugar and maple syrup in a large bowl until light and fluffy.

3. Stir in ground chia and water mixture, vanilla and psyllium seed husks.

4. Mix well, until all ingredient­s are fully combined.

5. In a small bowl, whisk the teff flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt.

6. Add dry ingredient­s to wet ingredient­s and stir until combined.

7. Cut dough in half and move to a lightly floured surface (I use extra teff flour for rolling) and roll out until about 1/2 centimetre thick (or to desired thickness). Place half the dough in the fridge so it stays firm.

8. Using desired cookie cutters, cut into shapes and place on tray.

9. Bake for 10 minutes, longer if you want them really crunchy. Just be sure to check on them so they don’t burn.

10. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes (or longer depending on shapes) and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

11. Repeat with remaining dough. You may need to refrigerat­e dough if it gets too soft to work with.

12. When cookies are cool, combine sugar, vanilla and milk in a small bowl. Frost cookies and enjoy.

Maggie Savage is a holistic nutritioni­st who blogs about healthy glutenfree living. Find more of her recipes at www.SheLetThem­EatCake.com

 ?? GRAHAM PAINE TORSTAR ?? Maggie Savage’s recipe this week is for tasty Halloween cookies.
GRAHAM PAINE TORSTAR Maggie Savage’s recipe this week is for tasty Halloween cookies.
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