Well, National Chocolate Chip Cookie day was May 15 and I didn’t make any cookies. I couldn’t bring myself to making another sugar packed, white flour based cookie drenched in chocolate chips. I did, however, have a love jones for chocolate that would not go away, and so I caved and baked cookies the following Sunday.
I had quinoa and decided to put my boys to work. They milled the seeds and enjoyed watching the transformation happen as the quinoa went from “bubbles” (as my son describes) to flour. That’s all you have to do to make quinoa flour, process the seeds. This is more of a “reci-me” than a recipe, because it’s what I do, not necessarily what you should do. I used only dark brown sugar, instead of white sugar and had to sub almond extract for vanilla because that’s all that I had on hand. I also decided to make them vegan by omitting eggs and using flaxseeds instead. Ground flaxseed and water is a great egg replacer. I have used it in many cookie recipes and even in cornbread. Good luck following it, but if you try it let me know how they turn out! My children loved them and so did I. They were chewy and crunchy with a salted, chocolate, nutty vibe going on. You can maybe half the salt if you don’t like the salty taste. I also added raisins because my sons were playing with them on the table while we were mixing, so in they went! I can’t wait to make them again with vanilla, I think they’ll be even better.
Here is my recipe for chocolate chip cookies with the beautiful, nutty, protein packed ancient grain (hence the name), quinoa. This recipe is also on Yummly, check me out there as “Girlfriend Goddess” if you think this is Yummy.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup of veggie shortening
- 1 1/4 cup of packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. of vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp. of milk*
- 1 “egg” ( 1 1/2 tbsp. ground flaxseeds blended with 4 1/2 tbsp. of water)
- 3/4 cup of quinoa flour
- 1 cup of regular flour
- 1 tsp. of salt
- 3/4 tsp. of baking soda
- 1 cup of chocolate chips
- *optional: add 1/2 cup of walnuts or raisins if you like, they’re your cookies*
How I made them:
- Mix the vegetable shortening with the brown sugar until creamy
if you use butter flavored shortening, you may want to go easy on the salt - Combine quinoa flour, regular flour, baking soda and salt with a whisk or sifter.
I used the red quinoa
***(As step 1 is mixing, make your egg replacer by mixing 1 1/2 tbsp. of ground flaxseeds with 4 1/2 tbsp. of water. You can do this by hand or in a blender)***
- add egg*, vanilla and milk* to sugar/shortening once creamy. mix well
- Stir in your dry ingredients.
always want to be a part of the action! - stir in chocolate chips and nuts (optional)
I think mine were semisweet…not a big milk chocolate fan - Drop by tablespoons about two inches apart
try a small melon ball scooper or a small cookie dough scooper for accurate measuring - Bake at 375F or 190C for 8-10 minutes
oooh the waiting!
Let cool and enjoy! We did. These babies really did come out very decadent. Strangely, I didn’t feel too guilty eating them. I figured with all the quinoa fiber and protein, flax omega power, and chocolate goodness, there is no way this is bad, right?
