I love this time of year and baking with my son is one of my favorite things to do around the holidays. I love seeing how a 4 year old mind works when adding ingredients and then trying to decide how many sprinkles need to go on each cookie (usually too many for my liking but I let him run with it) However most recipes are made up of lots of butter and white flour so I wanted recipes we could make together that I would feel better about him and his little sister eating.
These are the ones we made this year!
Pecan Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread Layer
2 cups almond flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1/3 cup coconut oil melted
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pecan Layer
2 cups raw pecan halves
1/2 cup coconut oil
2/3 cup coconut sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup almond milk
2 eggs room temperature
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, and salt. Stir until well combined.
Press into bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 16-18 minutes. The edges should be slightly brown.
Once removed from the oven, sprinkle pecans on top.
Reduce heat to 325F
While the crust is baking, make the filling. In a large saucepan, combine coconut oil, coconut sugar, molasses, and salt. Heat on low, stirring the whole time, until mixture is completely mixed. Do not cook any higher or the mixture won't combine properly.
Take off heat and add in the vanilla and almond milk. Stir until smooth. Add in the eggs and mix. Pour mixture oven pecans and bake for 30 minutes.
Let cool and room temperature then cut and serve. Store in the fridge after 24 hours.
Chewy Fig Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
2 cups blanched almond flour(called ground almonds in other countries)
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 cup fig jam or jam of choice
Instructions
In a medium bowl, stir together the almond flour, coconut flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
In another medium bowl, stir together the coconut oil, egg and almond extract.
Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir just until combined. The dough will feel quite wet.
Let sit for 10 minutes, which allows the coconut flour to absorb the liquid.
Preheat the oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
Roll the dough into 1" balls and place 2" apart on the prepared cookie sheet. The dough will feel quite greasy but this is okay.
Using your thumb, make an indentation about 3/4 of the way down into each cookie. You may want to re-form the edges a little to make them prettier.
Fill each indentation with 1/2 teaspoon of jam. Be sure not to overfill them.
Bake for 8 minutes or until the cookies have barely started browning on the bottom.
Let the cookies, which will be very soft, cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Almond Flour Sugar Cookie
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, ghee, or palm shortening, softened
1/4 cup softened coconut oil
3/4 cup coconut sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
2 1/4 cups blanched almond flour(scoop and slightly pack it down when you measure it)
1/2 cup coconut flour
Instructions
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, coconut oil, and sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla and almond extract, mix until incorporated.
In a separate bowl, combine the baking soda, salt, almond flour, and coconut flour. With the mixer running on low, add the flour mixture to the creamed ingredients 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.
Form the dough into a ball with your hands and place on a piece of plastic wrap. Form the dough into a disc and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Sprinkle a clean, flat surface with coconut flour and roll the dough out until it is 1/4 thick. I like laying it on a piece for parchment paper and placing another sheet on top to roll it out. Or you may have to rub the rolling pin with coconut flour to do this. Cut out the cookies using your choice of cutters. Work somewhat quickly so the dough stays cold. Using a spatula, transfer the cut cookies to the baking sheets.
Gather the remaining scraps back up into a ball and roll out again. Repeat rolling and cutting out cookies until you use all the dough. If the dough gets too warm while you work with it you may need to chill it again.
Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes, until lightly golden. These cookies need to bake longer than typical sugar cookies. They will stay soft and just get a little crispy, which is just what you want!
Cool on a baking sheet for 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.
For a cleaner frosting and sprinkles I used Simple Mills cake frosting and India Tree sprinkles.
Cinnamon Cookie
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup raw creamy almond butter
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium-size mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the almond butter, maple syrup and vanilla extract.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry while stirring. Stir well to thoroughly combine. The dough will be sticky, but this is what you want.
Using your hands, roll the dough, about 1 tbsp at a time, into a ball and place on the parchment lined baking sheet. Dampen your hands slightly to make the dough easier to work with. Continue until all the dough has been used. Be sure to space the balls of dough out on the baking sheet with a few inches in between because they will spread out into perfectly round cookies.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until they are starting to firm up on the outside.
Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring the cookies too a wire rack to continue cooling completely.
Note: If you really love cinnamon like I do - add an extra 1/2 tbsp of cinnamon.
If you are not a big baker but need something to bring to a party or cookie exchange these Cake bites are perfect!
Chocolate Mint Cake Bites
Ingredients
Simple Mills Chocolate Cake Mix
1 container Simple Mills Vanilla Icing
1 tsp peppermint extract
Dark Chocolate ( I used one large bar of dark chocolate with no sugar added)
Instructions
Make the cake mix as directed on the Simple Mills box
Bake the cake and let cool enough that you can touch it but not all the way to room temp. You want it a little warm to melt the icing a bit.
While cake is cooling line a sheet pan with parchment paper
In a large bowl mix the cake, container of icing and peppermint together until icing is completely mixed into the cake.
Roll about 1-2 inch balls out of the mix and lay on a sheet pan
Freeze the cake bites for 30min
While they are freezing melt chocolate in a pan over low heat. I just broke up the bar and placed in pan to melt. If yours seems too thick add in a little coconut oil.
Take the frozen bites and dip them in the chocolate then place back on the lined cookie sheet.
Option to top with sprinkles or crushed candy cane
Once they are all covered freeze again for at least 10 mins. Once chocolate is hardened move them to a airtight container to store. They will need be stored in the refrigerator or freeze.
Gingerbread Cake Bites
Ingredients
Simple Mills Vanilla Cake Mix
1 container Simple Mills Vanilla Icing
1 tbsp molasses
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
White Chocolate (If you are dairy free you will want to skip this or replace with a drizzle of the vanilla icing)
Instructions
Make the cake mix as directed on the Simple Mills box but then add in molasses, ginger and cinnamon to batter.
Bake the cake and let cool enough that you can touch it but not all the way to room temp. You want it a little warm to melt the icing a bit.
While cake is cooling line a sheet pan with parchment paper
In a large bowl mix the cake and container of icing together until icing is completely mixed into the cake.
Roll about 1-2 inch balls out of the mix and lay on a sheet pan
Freeze the cake bites for 30min
While they are freezing melt chocolate in a pan over low heat. If yours seems too thick add in a little coconut oil.
Take the frozen bites and dip them in the chocolate then place back on the lined cookie sheet. You can also just drizzle the chocolate over the bites is you do not want them fully covered.
You can decorate them with a sprinkle of cinnamon and ginger
Once they are all covered freeze again for at least 10 mins. Once chocolate is hardened move them to a airtight container to store. They will need be stored in the refrigerator or freeze.
I hope you enjoy baking these delicious treats! Happy Holidays!!
