The Smiling Onion

Vegetarian and Gluten-free Cooking

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Cranberry Cookies with White Chocolate and Ginger

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Unless you are super Type A or enjoy making shared family spreadsheets (and does anyone really enjoy that?), chances are there will be some oversights or duplications in your Thanksgiving shopping. Especially when multiple people are bringing ingredients/food. Last year, for example, I somehow ended up with four bags of organic cranberries and only eight people to feed. Despite having multiple cranberry sauce fanatics at the table,  nobody is going to eat quite that much of it, especially with all the Thanksgiving standards to load up on. So I decided not to use all four bags.

But then I had a new problem – what could I do with so many cranberries? Cut to a few days post Thanksgiving, when the last slice of pie had been eaten and the glorious array of leftovers was almost gone. I wasn’t ready to give up having a kitchen stocked full of treats just yet, so I decided to make some cookies. (I mean, I needed to use those cranberries, anyway, so this was really the responsible choice, right?) Okay, maybe responsible is a bit of a stretch, but the decisions was definitely a good one. It yielded these cookies! And I’ve been waiting a whole year to share them with you.

Perfect for including at your Thanksgiving table or for munching on after the fact (people with extra cranberries, I’m looking at you!), these cookies have such a holiday flair. The tartness of the cranberries goes perfectly with the sweetness of the white chocolate and the lovely chunks of candied ginger. I’ve used finger millet flour for these, which is a darker variety of millet flour that helps temper all the sugar a bit and lends a lovely earthy quality that is perfect for the cold weather. That said, if you are unable to find finger millet flour (I order it online from Pure India Foods), you can use regular white millet flour (actually pictured above) and the cookies will still turn out. If you go this route, I would suggest cutting the sugar slightly (try a scant ½ cup) as the white variety turned out much sweeter.

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Coconut-Cacao Cookies

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So due to this frigid January, my oven is getting a serious workout. You’d think the three batches of cornbread I made last week would have been enough to slow the baking roll, but apparently I can’t help whipping up cookies, biscuits, and blini rolls left and right. Have I been procastibaking? I’d like to say no, but that could just be denial.  (And yet, who’s to say that using up a little over a tablespoon of the two bags of cacao nibs I found in the cabinet recently isn’t the most productive use of my time?)

Speaking of cacao nibs, those nutrient-packed, antioxidant-rich morsels are just part of what makes this cookie perfect for an energy-boosting snack. High in protein and fiber – think rolled oats, almond flour, flax, and quinoa – eating just one is a filling and delicious way to fuel up while out and about. And with no refined sugar, you don’t have to feel too bad for eating more than one, should you decide to. The batter is super easy and can be made in one bowl (plus a small pot for melting the butter) and there is no shaping required  – simply drop them onto your sheet trays and they’ll be good to go. So, recovering procrastibakers: don’t worry. This recipe won’t keep you off task for long and may actually prove beneficial for task-accomplishment, given the cognition-boosting properties of the cacao nibs. (Uh oh, is justification/rationalization using half-read scholarly articles  an impediment to recovery?) Meh, who cares, go make some cookies!

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Vegan Salty Oat Cookies

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If you’ve been following my blog for a while, there’s a chance that the title of this post sounds familiar to you. I do, in fact, already have a salty oat cookie recipe – created way back in May of last year – that has since become a staple of mine. It’s so quick and easy to whip up a batch, and said batch is so satisfying to munch on, that I find myself making these sweet and salty confections to bring to all manner of occasions, from game nights to family events. But it’s always been my intention to eventually post a vegan version, since I had a hunch these could taste just as good without the butter and egg. And in fact, I’ve known that hunch to be correct ever since November, when I buckled down and perfected these vegan salty oat cookies as part of our Thanksgiving menu. So it’s high time to share the love!

The secret to veganizing the recipe? Freshly ground chia seed (pre-ground didn’t gel as well and yielded crumbly cookies while flax meal made them take on a too-healthy taste that wasn’t cookie appropriate), coconut oil, and toasted hazelnuts. Other than those minor changes, this recipe is pretty similar to the original. Every time I make either version, I’m convinced I like it better than the other, so I really can’t say for sure which one I prefer. But toasted hazelnuts do have a special place in my heart – and tummy – and definitely lend these cookies a buttery quality that makes it very hard to tell that they are, in fact, vegan.

So if you’re looking for a scrumptious, coffeeshop-like cookie that’s both vegan and gluten-free, look no further! (Especially if you are also a fan of oats, peanut butter, and chocolate chips.)

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Golden Porridge

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When the sun decides to stay hidden for multiple days in a row and the weather is dark and gloomy, there’s nothing better than a bit of gold to brighten up your morning. Especially when that gold takes the form of a warming, hearty breakfast that will give you the fuel you need to start your day, sun or no sun.

This golden porridge is delicately spiced with turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon and uses a mix of gluten-free oats and quinoa flakes for a really lovely texture that is reminiscent of steel cut oats. Don’t panic though – there is a VERY big difference between this porridge and steel-cut oats: it doesn’t take forever to cook!

Finally, I love this recipe because you can customize it to your liking. I happen to be a turmeric freak and often make this with a full teaspoon of turmeric, but I’ve tried to tone it down for my readers. If it’s still a bit heavy on the turmeric for you, or you think it could really use more cinnamon, or maybe you’re feeling a nutmeg vibe, this recipe is yours to fiddle with. Spice it however you’d like. The same goes for sweetener: add a bit of maple syrup, coconut sugar, honey…whatever floats your boat. Or leave it unsweetened, which is what I’ve opted for lately. With some fresh fruit and a bit of candied ginger, I find that I really don’t crave any extra sweetener at all, and my body is happier for it.

So, ready to whip up a batch of porridge? Just make sure to store any leftovers far away from Goldilocks.

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Pumpkin-Sage “Nut & Seed” Bread (Nut-free, Vegan, GF, Low Fodmap)

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One of the frustrating things about packaged gluten-free breads is the lack of variety. Most of them tend to imitate white sandwich breads. Every once in a while, you’ll find a whole-grain version, and if you’re very lucky, you might discover a crusty, artisan-style loaf. But I’ve yet to find a packaged gluten-free version of those flatter, denser, heartier, nut & seed breads that were so much a part of my childhood. Breads reminiscent of this sunflower loaf, for example.

Luckily, imitation “nut & seed” breads are super easy to make; MUCH easier than your typical yeasted loaf. The recipe I’ve developed below can be whipped up in about 10 minutes, and then only bakes for 25. It’s composed of healthy, fuel-packed ingredients like oats and quinoa flakes, with a lovely sweetness from the pumpkin and savory notes of sage and marjoram. Better yet, the whole thing can be baked in the tray of your toaster oven! (Unless of course, you want more bread than that, in which case I recommend doubling the recipe and baking it in a regular oven.)

This bread is delicious with all  manner of toppings: hummus & avocado, mustard & swiss, tempeh, lettuce, & tomato – you name it. It’s pictured below with a vegan cheese spread and some fresh veggies. So, how about some hearty pumpkin bread to offset all that Halloween sugar?

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Salty Oat Coffeeshop Cookies

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Have you ever been to Teaism? Whenever I find myself in DC, I normally make it a priority to stop in at one of their three locations. It’s a cute, exceedingly popular tea house with an extensive tea menu and Asian small bites. I don’t often eat there – just chill and drink tea – but on my last visit, I noticed an enticing menu item: salty oat cookies! Sadly, they were not gluten-free, so I had to content myself with buying one for my husband and asking him detailed questions about it.

Fast forward a few months and a late-night cookie craving hits. When this happens, I’m often torn: do I measure so I have a potential blog recipe in the making or do I just throw stuff in a bowl and try to recreate it later? I opted for the throw-stuff-in-a-bowl option, since I knew that measuring would surely increase the amount of waiting time until my my cookie craving – which was increasing in urgency – was quenched.

As is often the case when I forgo measuring altogether, the cookies came out amazing. Like mind-blowingly good. They were soft and chewy when they first came out, filled with hearty oats, creamy peanut butter, and quinoa flakes with just the right amount of flour to hold them together. They were also the perfect sweet and salty combo, buttery and delicious. And as they cooled down, they got even better: developing a lovely crunch on the outside. I couldn’t stop eating them!

Now, when I tried to recreate these cookies a few days later – using actual measuring devices – they weren’t quite the same. They were, however, quite delicious. And coincidentally, they were also very reminiscent of how my husband had described the salty oat cookie at Teaism, potentially minus the peanut butter. In short, these taste like the perfect coffeeshop cookie: hearty and delicious, lovely with or without a cup of tea or coffee. They are packed with oats and quinoa flakes, salted butter, creamy peanut butter, toasted coconut, and chocolate chips. And they seem to get even better as the days go by – keep them at room temperature in a ziplock bag and enjoy having the perfect snack on hand whenever a craving strikes. I even made an ice-cream cookie sandwich with them using homemade ginger ice-cream (recipe coming soon!) which was absolutely divine.  If anyone has actually had the salty oat cookie at Teaism, I’d be very interested to hear whether this is, in fact, similar. Please let me know in the comments!

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