Coconut Sugar Cookies

[ArtGirl]

I've been making some coconut sugar cookies for my husband, adapted from a gluten-free matza recipe. He likes them real well. The rehydrated coconut adds moisture so that, while the cookies are crunchy, they're not too dry. The difference between what I make for him and for me is that with his cookies I use oat flour for the 1T flour. I run certified gluten-free rolled oats thru a blender to make a course flour. Each kind of flour, oat, rice, sorghum, etc., will lend a slightly different texture to the cookie.

COCONUT COOKIES

Makes approx 1 dozen cookies.

Turn oven on to 350 degrees F

Step 1:

Mix together and set aside to soak:

1/4 cup dry coconut flakes (I use organic that have no sugar or other addatives)

3 Tablespoons water

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 Tablespoon Agave or other sweet syrup (honey, sweet rice syrup)

Step 2:

Mix together dry ingredients in a shallow bowl (I use a pasta dish)

3/4 cup potato starch

1/4 cup almond meal

1 Tablespoon flour (this can be any gluten-free flour such as white rice or sorghum)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp gelatin (keeps the cookies from being too dry)

2 T sugar

Step 3:

Mix into the dry ingredients:

2 Tablespoons oil (any oil, even coconut oil)

The coconut/water/syrup mix

--Mix well, adding more water as necessary to allow the dough to be moist enough to form a soft ball but not too sticky to handle. If it does become too sticky, add more potato starch. (Note: It's really easier to mix with your hands after the dough is moistened.)

Form Cookies:

--Pour about 1/4 cup sugar into a small shallow bowl (I use organic cane sugar which is a bit more course than ganulated)

--Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and begin forming cookies:

--Take a level tablespoon full of dough and shape into a ball and then gently flatten in the palm of your hand. Gently dip both sides into sugar to coat.

--Place dough on baking sheet and gently press with fingers to spread evenly to about 3/16-inch thick. It is important that all cookies be as near the same thickness as you can make them. (The edges will split some, which makes the finished cookie look nice, but you could also smooth the edges if you wanted). Thinner cookies are more crisp and take less time to cook.

Note: cookies will not spread so you can place them very close together.

After all cookies are in place on the sheet, sprinkle more sugar on top.

Bake for 13-15 mins, or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn brown.

Remove from sheet and cool on a wire rack. When cool, transfer to an air-tight container. Will stay fresh for about a week. Can be frozen.

VARIATION

LEMON COOKIES:

Mix fresh lemon juice with a small amount of water (half the amount of the juice). Use this instead of water and vanilla in the above recipe. You may want to sweeten the lemon juice a bit or add more sugar, depending on how sweet you like it. (I keep my lemon juice sweetened with stevia and I used this for the cookies.) If you need to add more water to the dough while mixing, use the lemon juice instead.

EXPERIMENTS

I am thinking of trying almond milk instead of water. I'm sure that will change the texture. I did try adding more gelatin to try to make the cookies a little more chewy, but my husband didn't like that one so well. If you do some experimenting, I'd sure like to know how it all turns out.

[Sweetfudge]

this sounds like a really yummy recipe! thanks for posting, and offering all your variations

[blueeyedmanda]

These sounds like my non-celiac fiance would love. He loves coconut cookies.