Today, I don’t want to say much, just that our hearts go out to the victims and families of the terrible tragedy in CT.
Butternut squash, cranberries, and winter spices are the ingredients I keep coming back to lately. I’ve made many batches of these simple cookies for the past couple of weeks, both baked and raw. The baked kind come out crumbly and moist, while the raw cookies are dense and filling, very good for a quick breakfast. We can’t decide which one is better, it depends on whom you ask.
Butternut Squash and Cranberry Cookies
(makes about 22 small cookies)
1 cup and 2 tablespoons brown rice flour
1/4 cup each almond and coconut flour
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon quinoa flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
freshly ground seeds of 2-3 cardamom pods
dash of both clove and all spice
3 tablespoons coconut oil – melted
1 cup full fat coconut milk
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups finely shredded butternut squash
about 1 cup fresh cranberries
1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). In a large bowl, mix the flours, baking powder, soda and spices. Add the coconut oil and work it in.
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix the coconut milk, sugar and vanilla extract. Add shredded butternut squash, mix to combine. Transfer the wet ingredients into the dry ones, add cranberries and mix to incorporate thoroughly.
3. Prepare a parchment paper lined baking tray. With a wet ice cream scooper, scoop cookies one at a time onto the tray, leaving some space in between them. Dip the ice cream scooper into a small bowl with water in between each cookie.
4. Bake for 25 minutes or longer, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Raw Cookies
2 cups oat flour
1/2 cup coconut sugar – powdered
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
freshly ground seeds of 2-3 cardamom pods
dash of both clove and all spice
1/4 cup melted cocoa butter
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup finely shredded butternut squash
about 1 cup fresh cranberries
1. In a large bowl, combine the oat flour, sugar, salt and spices. Add in the cocoa butter and mix in thoroughly. In a small bowl, combine honey and vanilla extract, add to the dry mixture along with the butternut squash and cranberries. Stir to combine thoroughly, add water if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time.
2. Prepare a mesh-lined dehydrator tray. With a wet ice cream scooper, scoop the cookies onto the mesh screen one at a time, leaving some space in between them. Dip the ice cream scooper into a small bowl with water in between each cookie.
3. Dehydrate at 115 F for 24 hours or until dry on outside but still soft on the inside.
Emma Galloway says
Perfect sounding cookies and I’m totally with you, sometimes words just aren’t enough. Your silence speaks xx
Tanya says
It sounds like lovely recipes, I want to try them both. I just want to make sure that you’re using raw shredded squash, is it correct?
Nadia says
Beautiful cookies!
Golubka says
Thanks for the comments, everyone! Tanya, yes to the raw shredded squash.
Anonymous says
These cookies sound lovely :).
I actually have a question about your 3D back to basics post regarding the bread (my hope is you will see this here quicker than on that post), I wondered when making the Irish moss gel, what is the ratio of moss to water? Do you blend 1/4 cup of Irish moss with water to get the gel, or a less amount? I know the amount used in a gel can greatly affect the outcome and I don’t want to mess it up. Also, I’ve read to soak it in cold water but you say hot, is that important?
Thank you so much! You have such beautiful posts :).
Have a glorious day.
Golubka says
Anonymous, I like to soak the Irish moss in hot water, although you can do it in cold, from my experience it doesn’t make much difference.
To make Irish moss gel, rinse Irish moss thoroughly and soak in hot water for at least 10 minutes. Blend in a high-speed blender with enough purified water to reach a smooth gel-like consistency. Keep refrigerated.
Anonymous says
Thank you so much for responding. So the amount blended doesn’t matter? Just put a handful of Irish moss, the ounces don’t matter? Sorry im new at this :).
Happy holidays!
Gexton says
It looks really amazing!! I have to try it!! Thanks for sharing :-)
sesame seeds
fennel seeds
Anonymous says
hi, i’m just wondering what a substitute for cocoa butter would be?