Gingerbread Cookie Bites

Molasses style cookies are a favorite around here anytime of the year!  Gingerbread man cookies are festive, cute and have a lot of character, but they are also a lot of work!!  I decided to take that flavor and do a simple cookie ball with all the flavor and half of the work! This gingerbread recipe calls for a unique flour...chestnut flour.  What is chestnut flour??!  Chestnut flour is a gluten free alternative to regular flour made from ground chestnuts.  Chestnuts have been dried and made into sweet flavored flour in Italy for centuries. In Tuscany, chestnut flour is considered a staple food, and it is commonly called for in recipes such as:  chestnut flour bread, pie crust, crepes, and other baked goods.  Its sweet flavor makes it the perfect fit for recipes involving almonds, chocolate, honey and hazelnuts. I have found it to be awesome in fall recipes that incorporate pumpkin and spice.  Chestnuts do not contain the fat content regular nuts have, and are instead largely composed of carbohydrates.  Chestnut flour does have less carbohydrates than regular white flour but has many of the same baking properties as flour.  It creates a fluffier baked good, has a distinct taste that has a bit of spiciness to it and pairs really well with warm fall flavors, especially ginger! I love using almond flour and am not afraid of fat by any means.  I'm just enjoying how much fun this flour is to work with, and not to mention how good it is!

Is it actually a nut or a fruit?  According to Wikipedia, it’s a fruit.  If you have tree nut allergies, please look into this more, but my understanding is that it’s not a nut!!! Where can you buy chestnut flour?  Check with your local natural grocery stores, I do know some Natural Grocers are selling it.  You can also order it from Amazon or from nuts.com.  I realize it's a unique ingredient, but I promise you will enjoy it.  I have some other recipes including these crunchy Ginger Snaps or this Pumpkin Bread you could also try.  I also provided a substitution for the flour in the recipe "variations" section of this cookie recipe for those of you that don't want to order it.  Both versions of the cookies are great, I just think the chestnut flour adds a bit more flavor.

Gingerbread Cookie Bites

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups finely ground almond flour (I prefer Honeyville)
• 1/4 cup chestnut flour* (see substitution below)
• 3-4 tbsp granulated sweetener such as coconut palm sugar (I usedSwerve for a no sugar option)
• 3 tbsp grass-fed butter, softened(ghee or coconut oil should work)
• 1 1/2 tbsp molasses
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Instructions

1. Place the almond flour, chestnut flour (or arrowroot), sweetener, butter and spices and salt in a food processor and combine
2. Add in the molasses and vanilla and pulse until dough forms into a big ball
3. Place the dough in the refrigerator forat least 30 minutes to keep the cookies from spreading as they cook
4. Roll the dough into one inch balls and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet
5. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before moving to a cooling rack.  Cookies will get crisp as they cool
6. Store in an airtight container. Place in the refrigerator if you prefer a hard cookie

Variations

*You can sub the chestnut flour for arrowroot flour, but only use 2 tbsp of arrowroot, NOT 1/4 cup! These may spread a tiny bit more, but are still delicious!!!

Enjoy!

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Grain Free Chestnut Flour Pumpkin Bread

I know not everyone has chestnut flour on hand and most of you may have never heard of it.  I feel bad posting recipes that include ingredients that can not be purchased at the local health food store, but this flour is great!!  There are a million grain free pumpkin bread recipes out there using almond and coconut flour, so I wanted to give a different option.  My hope is thatone day soon chestnut flour will be available locally for all of us that are eating gluten and grain free.

In case you missed it, I also used chestnut flour in this Grain Free Ginger Cookies Recipe and explain what chestnut flour is.  The best place to buy it is at nuts.com and you can get some fantastic almond flour (comparable to Honeyville Brand)or cashew flour to make the Spicy Rosemary Cashew Crackers.

Grain Free Chestnut Flour Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cup chestnut flour
• 3/4 cup coconut palm sugar or erythritol (I did 1/8 cup palm sugar and erythritol for the remaining)
• 2 pastured eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 -2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

Instructions

1. Blend the eggs, pumpkin, oil and sugar with a hand mixer
2. Combine the flour, salt, soda and spices in a different mixing bowl
3. Make sure your pan is greased and ready to go before this next step. The soda and vinegar is a rising agent and starts acting immediately so you want to get the bread in the oven asap.
4. Add the vinegar and the dry mixture to the wet and stir well
5. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes

Serve warm with some grass-fed butter...mmmmmmm!

Kate's Healthy Cupboard - Gluten Free Recipes

Grain-Free Ginger Cookies

Earlier this year I posted this Gingersnap Cookie Recipe, and today I bring you another one!  Both of these cookies are delicious, but very different.  The original gingersnap cookies are made with almond flour and are soft and chewy like a molasses cookie.  Today's gingersnap recipe is crunchy, spicy and made from chestnut flour.

What is chestnut flour??!  Chestnut flour is a gluten free alternative to regular flour made from ground chestnuts.  Chestnuts have been dried and made into sweet flavored flour in Italy for centuries. In Tuscany, chestnut flour is considered a staple food, and it is commonly called for in recipes such as:  chestnut flour bread, pie crust, crepes, and other baked goods.  Its sweet flavor makes it the perfect fit for recipes involving almonds, chocolate, honey and hazelnuts. I have found it to be awesome in fall recipes that incorporate pumpkin and spice.  Chestnuts do not contain the fat content regular nuts have, and are instead largely composed of carbohydrates.  Chestnut flour does have less carbohydrates than regular white flour but has many of the same baking properties as flour.  I love using almond flour and am not afraid of fat by any means.  I am just enjoying how much fun this flour is to work with, and not to mention how good it is!

Is it actually a nut or a fruit?  According to Wikipedia, it's a fruit.  If you have tree nut allergies, please look into this more, but my understanding is that it's not a nut!!!

Convinced to buy some chestnut flour yet?  You should be because I have a few recipes coming that will use this flour.  It's worth buying a pound or two and seeing what you think!  It can be purchased from Nuts.com and while you are there, they have fine ground almond flour too if you need more.  It's comparable to Honeyville and they also sell other nut flours that could be fun to use instead of almond flour.  I have cashew flour on my list to buy soon to make this awesome Spicy Rosemary Cashew Crackers Recipe!

 Recipe: Grain-Free Ginger Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cup chestnut flour
• 1/2 cup grass-fed butter or coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup molasses or yacon syrup
• 3/4 cup granulated sweetener*
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tsp ground ginger (heaping if you like spicy)
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Instructions

1. With a handheld mixer, combine the butter/oil, egg, vanilla, sugar and molasses
2. In another mixing bowl, combine the flour, soda, salt and spices
3. Combine the two bowls and mix well.  the dough will be thick
4. Take about 1/3 of the dough and roll it out between 2 pieces of parchment paper to about 1/8-1/4 inch thick
5. Cut out cookies with a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter. You could also roll dough into balls and press down flat with the bottom of a greased glass
6. Place the cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 7 minutes
7. Remove from the oven and place cookies on a wire cooling rack to help them get hard and crunchy
8. Repeat until the dough is gone

Quick notes

*I used half erythritol and half coconut palm sugar for the sweetener

This makes about 48 thin cookies.  Sounds like a lot, but they will go fast!!  They are so thin that I justified eating 4 at a time thinking it really was equivalent to just 1 regular cookie!

Kate's Healthy Cupboard - Gluten Free Recipes