For my grandmothers birthday last year, my sister wanted to organise a high tea. If you don’t know what a high tea is, it’s going to a restaurant and drinking tea (obviously) and eating very fancy finger foods. For some reason or another, it didn’t get organised in time for last year and never happened. Ma (as she was known to us) passed away at the end of last year.
With her birthday coming up, my sister decided she wanted to go ahead with the high tea and still celebrate her birthday, but at home instead. We all baked different things, and these cookies were my contribution. And I dare say that Ma would have loved them.
I have been baking with almond flour for a while now. I never like to use gluten free flour blends, or any other those weird tasting gluten free flours. A week or so ago, I went through my pantry and threw away all of the giant (and expired) flour collection I had. I experimented with the flours for awhile, but found gluten free baking hard – never the right texture and always a little off tasting (or in some cases a lot off tasting).
So I got back a whole shelf in the pantry, and now I only have a few remaining flours: almond flour/meal, garbanzo/chickpea flour, arrowroot starch/flour and tapioca starch (which I rarely use). I like to keep things really simple, and I find almond flour and garbanzo flour produce the best results with the best flavors, and they are actually good for you. Arrowroot starch is amazing as a thickener in sauces, and to make a harder texture in baked goods.
Almond flour makes one amazing cookie. The same crumbly texture of a gluten cookie, but softer. Soft and sweet with barely the need for any other add ins. You’ll be amazed at how sweet these cookies are, considering they only have 2 tablespoons of maple syrup to sweeten them.
These are definitely a more sophisticated, adult cookie. My experience with my nieces and nephews has taught me one thing: kids like chocolate. But if you love soft, slightly sweet, with just enough lemon to smell divine cookies, then these are for you. Serve them up at tea or coffee with friends, and prepare for them to be impressed.
- 2 cups almond meal/flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1.5 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp organic lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
- Preheat oven to 175°C / 350°F.
- Combine almond meal, baking soda and salt in a food processor, and process until fine.
- Add coconut oil, maple syrup, lemon juice and lemon zest, and process until a dough ball forms.
- Scoop out about 1-2 Tbsp of dough, roll into a ball and place on baking tray.
- Gently press down.
- Bake for 6-8 minutes (mine took about 7 minutes), until just golden brown (after you remove them from the oven they will continue get darker).
- Let cool for 15-30 minutes (or they will fall apart).