RYE, CHOCOLATE, TAHINI COOKIES

Who doesn't enjoy a delicious cookie for a wee treat? But there are healthy cookies and extremely unhealthy ones! 

So as you can imagine mine are extremely healthy cookies but also delicious and a wee treat for my gut microbe buddies as well as my taste buds!!

So these have a mix of white and rye flour, chia seeds, raw cacao powder, dark chocolate, hazelnuts and tahini, along with coconut sugar so plenty of fibre and polyphenols for my gut microbes!

My new game is trying to add as many prebiotics to my food as I can, so even my baking gets a gut makeover!

It's all about healthy swaps, not denying yourself a well deserved treat!

 I had just thought of another addition which would have worked well, some orange zest, which is high in pectin and also polyphenols, so I will add some to my next batch!

Also some people prefer crisp cookies and some prefer a more cakey texture so you can do either option!
For crisp cookies, use the smoosh method, which is bake them for 10 minutes, then take them out and smoosh them with a fork, then bake for a further 5 minutes.

For thicker cakey cookies just lightly flatten the dough before you bake them.

These are really delicious and healthy too so I hope you try them! Your gut and your taste buds will thank you!

So here is my recipe

Ingredients for 20 cookies

• 125g plain flour or spelt flour
• 125g wholemeal rye flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tablespoon raw cacao powder
• 200g coconut sugar or brown sugar
• 100g vegan spread or coconut oil
• 70g tahini
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 chia  or flax eggs (2 tablespoons chia or flaxseeds mixed with 6 tablespoons warm water) 
• 125g dark chocolate chopped into small pieces or use dark chocolate chips
• 75g lightly toasted hazelnuts, walnuts or pecan nuts, roughly chopped
• zest of an orange (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C/gas 5/375F and lightly oil 2 baking trays or line them with greaseproof paper.
2. Make the chia or flaxseed eggs and leave aside for 10 minutes to thicken.
   
3. Put the flours, cacao powder and baking powder in a bowl and stir to combine.
4. Melt the vegan spread, tahini, sugar and salt in a pan or in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water.
5. Leave to cool for 10 minutes then add the chia or flax eggs and stir well to combine.
6. Add to the flour mix with the chocolate chips and chopped nuts, mix with a wooden spoon then just use your hands to incorporate all the chocolate and nuts. The mix is fairly dry so persevere until you have a nice ball of dough with evenly distributed chocolate and nuts.
7. Take spoonfuls of the dough (roughly 50g) roll into balls and put them on the trays, leaving at least 2 inches between them. You should have enough for around 20 cookies.
8. Lightly flatten the balls, sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on each one and bake in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes.
9. If you prefer flatter crispier cookies then bake them for 10 minutes, take them out and smoosh them with a fork, then return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
10. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
11. Will keep in an airtight container for up to a week but they will become softer the longer you keep them.