GUISE, ONLY ONE MONTH UNTIL CHRISTMAS!
Meanwhile, I’m finishing some discounted Halloween cookies while listening to Christmas music. A Pillsbury Dough Boy meets Michael Buble type evening, if you will.
Snow is beginning it’s decent on the North Shore mountains, Christmas events are making their way onto my news feed, and stores have pulled out their holiday stock. I’ve put away my sweet cinnamon pumpkin candle and have started burning ‘Tis the Season again. The sights, scents, and sounds are making us incredibly excited for Christmas. My brain, while it should be concentrating on organic molecules and microbiology (yuck) has been occupied with an endless list of holiday baking I want to accomplish. So many cookies, so little time. Why is winter break less than 2 weeks this year? Is that even legal? Unacceptable. Despicable. Cruel.
This is why I need to start playing Christmas music mid-November. Especially when I’m in the kitchen cooking, baking, cleaning. Rodelle Kitchen sent us a lovely package of their pure vanilla extract and bourbon vanilla beans, so being in the holiday spirit, I went to make a batch of perfect gingersnap cookies, a recipe I’ve waited a whole year to share with ya’ll.
Last Christmas, I gave my heart to the best vegan and gluten free soft-baked gingersnap cookies. They never got past my family’s mouth and into photos for the blog. Crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, vegan, gluten free, and refined sugar-free, these are perfection.
As much as I adore these cookies, let’s take a moment to also appreciate the filling. Our macadamia nut stash is reserved for special occasions, namely requests for vegan nanaimo bars. Today, this mac nut “cream” is even more luxurious than before as it is generously speckled with Rodelle Kitchen’s Bourbon Vanilla Beans. I know mac nuts aren’t always easy to hunt down (unless you’re in Hawaii, then I am green with envy of you. Like green smoothie green.) so raw cashews can be used instead. Sandwiched between two chewy cookies, it’s all I want for Christmas!
Once filled, enjoy as soon as possible. If made in advance, store the cream filling in the fridge and the vegan gingersnap cookies at room temperature. Assemble when you’re ready to eat.
For the next 30 days, we will be cranking out holiday recipes and wow, am I ever excited! I’d love to know what is on your holiday baking bucket list this year, or what you would like to see us make. Christmas brunch? The main dish? Sides? Appies? Drinks? More cookies? The ideas are endless, leave a comment below ♥
- COOKIES
- ¾ cup oats, ground into flour
- ¼ cup quinoa, ground into flour
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- A pinch each of allspice, freshly ground nutmeg, and salt
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 2 tbsp molasses
- ½ tsp Rodelle Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 tbsp water, use only as needed
- Turbinado sugar
- FILLING
- ½ cup raw macadamia nuts, soaked in water overnight*
- 3 tbsp melted coconut oil
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or if not vegan, honey
- 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
- Seeds from ½ of a Rodelle Bourbon Vanilla Bean
- Preheat oven to 375⁰F and line a cookie sheet with a silicon baking mat.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oat and quinoa flour, coconut sugar, baking soda and powder, spices, and salt.
- Add the melted coconut oil, molasses, and vanilla extract to the dry mixture and mix with a spatula until combined. Add water 1 tsp at a time until dough comes together.
- Divide dough into 8 or 12 pieces, depending on your desired size, and roll into balls. Place dough balls onto prepared cookie sheet. Sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar, flatten lightly with fingertips, and bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack or eating.
*Disclaimer: We were invited by Rodelle Kitchen to sample their vanilla baking ingredients free of charge in exchange for a recipe on our blog. All opinions expressed are our own; we only recommend products to our readers that we have tried and approved of.
I need to make these! <3
mmm these look like absolute perfection! I saw these on finding vegan, you girls have amazing recipes!
Rachel, you are too kind! You and Bethany make some pretty delicious stuff on Athletic Avocado too!
Looking forward to making these next week! I had one question – I currently have a box of quinoa flakes that I’ve been itching to use. Plus, my food processor isn’t the greatest, so it tends to be easier for me to grind flakes vs something a little more solid. Should I measure out 1/4 cup of quinoa flakes or should I use a little less to balance out the size difference between the quinoa and quinoa flakes? Thanks!
1/4 cup of quinoa flakes should work fine for this recipe. If the dough is a bit dry, you can add a little bit more water at the end to bring it all together. Hope you’ll enjoy the cookies!