Gluten Free Cookie Recipe: Pear and Walnuts

Wanting to experiment with new gluten-free flours and grains, I picked up some of Bob’s Red Mill organic amaranth flour and amaranth grains to create a new gluten free cookie recipe. I have been wanting to find a healthy snack besides premade protein bars, and amaranth (a seed) is rich in protein (15-17% by weight). Compared to other grains, it is the richest in lysine and the highest in fiber (3 times wheat). It is also loaded with vitamins and minerals.

Ad
[showmyads]
In researching how to cook with amaranth flour I learned that you use it as you would any other whole grain flour, using a smaller portion, never more than 1/3 the amount of amaranth compared to the total flour used. The gluten-free flours it works well with are soy (which I do not use), rice, and oat (which I adore). However, in this gluten free cookie recipe I really needed starch to achieve a cake-like cookie. I used potato and tapioca starches. This recipe is refined sugar-free, as I used agave nectar/syrup instead of refined sugar. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Pears are one of my favorite fruits! It makes a great natural sweetener.

Gluten Free Cookie Recipe: Pear and Walnuts

41

Gluten Free Cookie Recipe: Pear and Walnuts

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons amaranth flour
  • 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons gluten-free oat flour (or sorghum flour)
  • 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon potato starch
  • 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon tapioca starch
  • 1 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum*
  • 1 teaspoon guar gum
  • 2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/3 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or grape seed oil
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup agave nectar
  • 1 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 large ripe pear, peeled and finely chopped, (almost to the degree of apple sauce, but not quite)
  • 2/3 cup walnuts, chopped

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
  3. In a measuring cup add agave, water, oil and then vanilla; stir.
  4. Add wet ingredients and pears to the dry and mix well.
  5. Scoop about 1 very heaping tablespoon into the palm of your hand; roll into a ball and placing a dozen onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.
  6. Bake for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes; pull the pan out and with the bottom of a glass, smash them down into about 1/2" high cookies.
  7. Return to oven and bake for 8 more minutes.
  8. With a spatula, immediately transfer them to a cooling rack to cool.
  9. Serve warm or cold.

Tips

* To make these corn-free substitute the xanthan gum with guar gum.

2 Replies to “Gluten Free Cookie Recipe: Pear and Walnuts”

  1. I am confused by the statement “* To make these corn-free substitute the xanthan gum for guar gum.” Xanthan gum is the one which can be corn based and guar gum must be used instead. My daughter is allergic to corn and the increased Xanthan gum I used after my CD diagnosis is what pointed us to her corn allergy.

    1. Reta, thanks for bringing this to my attention. That was my error in writing. I have changed one word “for” to “with”, “To make these corn-free substitute the xanthan gum with guar gum.” Gee, where’s my mind lately?!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.