Kricket Cakes

I made these cookies per Melissa’s request. She and I took a cooking class years ago at Baumann College where we learned a version of this recipe. Ever since then, Melissa regularly attempts to make them from memory, but ends up asking me to make them or give her the recipe. More often than not, I can’t find the recipe. Well, now it is here for Melissa and you to make whenever you want… the recipe is no longer lost!

I must warn you, these cookies could almost be considered good for you. I would even go as far as to say that they would be an acceptable breakfast (far better for you than a donut!). And, they are excellent for tea time! These cookies are vegan, wheat free and gluten free. But don’t let that scare you away! They are also sweet, nutty, soft, crunchy, and delicious. They are two bite (or maybe one if you like a big bite) cookies that can disappear quickly if you aren’t paying attention.

This recipe calls for quinoa flakes. You probably haven’t heard of these before and most stores don’t carry them. If you live in Santa Cruz, you can get them at Staff of Life. If you live elsewhere, look in a health foods store (where they will also have the rice flour) for a box of quinoa flakes in the hot cereal section. If all else fails, use oats.

I have experimented with different nuts in this recipe and personally like almonds the best. My second favorite version is made by substituting walnuts for the almonds and vanilla extract instead of almond extract. Feel free to do your own expermentation based on your tastes.

I used Rasberry Rhubarb preserves for the decoration. These preserves are a little on the sour side and may not be to everyone’s liking. My best suggestion when choosing what type of jam to use is to pick one with a smooth, thick consistency. You don’t want watery, globby decoration!

This recipe makes approximately 29 cookies, depending on how much of the raw dough you eat and your interpretation of “tablespoon sized balls.”

• 1 cup quinoa flakes
• 1 1/4 cup raw almonds
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon almond extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Jam for decoration

1. Heat the oven to 300 degrees.
2. Spread the quinoa flakes in a thin layer on a baking sheet.
3. Toast the quinoa flakes in the oven for 6-10 minutes, removing from the oven every 2 minutes to stir with a spatula and check for doneness. You will know they are done when they start to smell fragrant and turn a slight shade darker. Don’t leave them unattended or in the oven for too long or they will burn!
4. Remove quinoa flakes from oven and transfer to a shallow bowl or plate to cool.
5. Spread the almonds in a thing layer on the baking sheet.
6. Toast and cool the almonds using the same procedure as the quinoa flakes in Steps 3 and 4.
7. Turn the oven up to 350 degrees.
8. Whisk the maple syrup, oil, almond extract and salt together in a small bowl, set aside.
9. When the quinoa flakes and almonds are cool, grind them in a food processor until meal-like.
10. Whisk the flour with the quinoa flake and almond meal mixture in a large bowl.
11. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until well combined.
12. Portion the dough into tablespoon sized balls on the baking sheet.
13. Create an indent in the center of each dough ball by pressing your finger into it.
14. Drop 1/8 teaspoon of jam into each indented center.
15. Bake for 10-13 mintues. Cookies should be slightly browned on the underside, but not too brown on top. The longer you bake them, the crispier your cookies will be.
16. Transfer with a spatula immediately to a cooling rack.
17. Eat them up (try not to eat them all at once… I dare you)!

(2 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 10:14 pm and is filed under Cookies, Vegan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.