Recipes

Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies

| Micki Paugh

So these cookies owe their inspiration to my lovely friend, Hannah. We were video chatting the other day and she talked about all the lovely things that she’s been making with her gluten free sourdough starter! It put me in the mood to make something but I had less than an hour before my next class so it had to be something quick. Hannah suggested banana bread, a quarantine classic, but I’m embarrassingly behind on my grocery shopping and didn’t have much around. I didn’t set out to make a gluten-free recipe but it was the easiest and quickest with the ingredients I had available. The recipe has five ingredients, most of which you’ll probably have in your pantry. I always have almond flour around because I make macarons frequently but it’s not a hard ingredient to find in most grocery stores.

Now for the tips and tricks with this recipe! This made about 17 bite size cookies and I had to hold myself back from eating most of them! The cookies aren’t very big and the batch size is small so feel free to scale up the recipe to fit your needs. However, I wouldn’t adjust the size of the cookies. Even with using melted butter, these cookies are VERY short/crumbly. This is due to the use of almond flour and makes a very easy crumbly cookie. If they were made any larger, they would probably collapse under their own weight when picked up. The cross-hatching is also super easy to do with a fork, no special equipment required! This recipe is from the King Arthur Flour website and on it, they have several variations for the flavor of the cookie including chocolate/pistachio and maple/pecan. I would start with the basic recipe and expand on that! Even if you wanted to try all the different flavor variations, it wouldn’t take more than an afternoon. So get busy and get baking!

Almond Flour Cookie Recipe

  • 96 grams (1 cup) almond flour
  • 43 grams (3 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature or softened
  • 21 grams (3 tablespoons) powdered sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet.
  2. Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl until a cohesive dough forms.
  3. Scoop out 1 inch balls of dough using a teaspoon cookie scoop and arrange on the sheet. Leave out an inch and a half of room between dough balls.
  4. Use a fork to flatten each cookie, making a cross hatch design on top.
  5. Bake 8-10 minutes or until they turn light brown on top (My oven took about 12 minutes)
  6. Remove and let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes then transfer them to a rack to completely cool before eating.

Buttermilk Granola Muffins

| Micki Paugh

I made these lovely muffins a few weeks ago during a particularly fruitful burst of baking. I always have leftover buttermilk from soda bread or other recipes that just sits in my fridge for weeks. With this recipe, I was finally able to use the leftover buttermilk but never fear, this recipe can be totally vegan if you choose or if you just lack buttermilk. The buttermilk in the recipe can be substituted for any type of fruit juice but I would suggest one that corresponds to the granola that you choose to use for this recipe. This recipe was an win for me because I’ve struggled with muffins in recent years. I can make them just fine from a mix but I haven’t found a good “from scratch” muffin recipe in a while. I’m so glad that I came across this recipe, it produced a ton of muffins which I’ve been enjoying for breakfast.

One note for the recipe concerning the type of granola used. Being a student on a budget, I could have made my own granola (time consuming but perhaps cheaper) or buy the cheapest option from the local grocery store. I choose the store route and have some regrets about the granola that I got which which was basically honey and vanilla flavored oats….So, I would recommend choosing your granola a little more carefully than I did. Go with something with larger clusters or with lots of dried fruit. I wish you luck and happy granola hunting if you decide to make these delectable muffins!

Buttermilk Granola Muffin Recipe

  • 227 grams whole wheat flour (2 cups)
  • 213 grams brown sugar, packed (1 cup)
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 99 grams prepared granola (1 cup)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 67 grams vegetable oil (1/3 cup)
  • 340 grams low-fat or full-fat buttermilk (1 1/2 cups)
  1. Preheat the oven to 400F and grease a muffin tin. If using cups, making sure to grease those as well, the batter will stick.
  2. Whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla extract, vegetable oil, and buttermilk.
  3. Pour liquid ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined
  4. Spoon batter into cups until 2/3 full.
  5. Sprinkle with additional granola and bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  6. Remove muffins from the oven but not the tins. After five minutes or when cool enough to handle, transfer the muffins to a rack to a cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Vegan Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

| Micki Paugh

I love chocolate chip cookies but I had never attempted a vegan cookie recipe! I had a lovely socially distanced picnic with friends last week and I wanted to bring a baked good to share. In these times of socially distanced socialization, I’ve loved baking for other people to show my love rather than giving them the big hugs that I’d really like to give them! One of my friends is a vegan and as I have been trying to incorporate less animal products in my own life, I thought it was a great opportunity to try out this recipe from King Arthur Flour. Always a great resource, King Arthur Flour didn’t fail me with this wonderful recipe for chocolate chip cookies that taste absolutely delicious and don’t compromise on any part of a cookie!

These cookies are specifically salted right before they are baked and this is the most important part of the recipe. I do have a sweet tooth but with the use of oil in these cookies, they can be a little overpoweringly sweet if you omit the salt. You don’t had to use very fancy salt either, I just sprinkled on kosher salt and whacked them in the oven. I really prefer kosher salt for baking, whether or not it’s called for by the recipe. Although most table salt is iodized, providing an important micronutrient in your diet, it doesn’t pack the same flavor punch that I find when I use kosher salt. Also, I taste kosher salt as more salty if that’s possible so I end up using less overall. Just to be careful, make sure that you have iodized table salt out for regular usage but I recommend kosher salt for most cooking and baking needs.

Some of the reviews on this recipe complained of spreading but I didn’t find this was the case at all. I refrigerated my dough for several hours (roughly 18) and froze the dough for about twenty minutes after I had shaped it. Using a tablespoon to measure the dough out, it makes about 27 cookies but only 26 made it into my oven! You can also add in sourdough discard or make them gluten free! For the discard addition, you can add in 70 grams of discard and omit the additional water the recipe calls for. You may also be able cut the flour amount but I’m not sure I could give an exact amount. To make this gluten free, substitute all the flour for almond meal and be careful to mix until the dough is just coming together. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did and let me know how any of the variations go in the comments!

Vegan Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

  • 241 grams (2 cups) All Purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 213 grams (1 1/4 cup) bittersweet chocolate chips
  • 99 grams (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
  • 106 grams (1/2 cup) packed brown sugar
  • 106 grams (1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon) vegetable oil
  • 71 grams (1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon) water
  • Sea salt or Kosher Salt to garnish
  1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda and salt. Add chocolate chips and whisk till they are coated with flour.
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk the sugars with the oil and water until smooth. This can take a minute or two but be patient!
  3. Add flour and stir until just combined with no visible flour spots.
  4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 12-24 hours.
  5. To bake, preheat oven to 350F and line two baking sheets.
  6. Remove dough from refrigerator and using a tablespoon to measure, drop on the lined sheet. Leave about 2 inches of room on each side and freeze for 10 minutes. (They can be frozen closer together but make sure they have the space when baking)
  7. Sprinkle with salt (Do this!!! I forgot for the first batch!!) and bake for 12-14 minutes. If you like your cookies softer, bake for no more than 13 minutes. Bake a few minutes past 14 if you enjoy a crunchy cookie.
  8. Remove and cool completely before serving. Enjoy!