I happened upon this recipe in an Eatingwell.com email. The original recipe calls for dried cherries, but I didn’t have any so I subbed dried cranberries instead. This recipe screamed “Christmas cookie” to me, so I knew that I had to include it in my “Cookie-A-Day” series. This recipe is full of healthy ingredients – almonds, canola oil, dried fruit. So, you can feel good about treating yourself to one of these cookies and these cookies ROCK! I was so pleasantly surprised when I tasted these. Jon was adamant about not trying them because he doesn’t like dried fruit. Well, they smelled so good he asked to try one. He ended up eating three & saying he loved them! They are really good warm. I couldn’t convert Hannah, but that is okay, this only made 20 cookies, so more for us! 😉
Almond Cranberry Bites
- 1/3 cup whole almonds (I used Trader Joe’s raw almonds
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup coarsely chopped dried cherries
- 2/3 cup gluten-free flour mix (I used Carol’s sorghum mix)
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 large egg white
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 tablespoons chocolate chips or finely chopped dark and/or white chocolate, for decoration (optional- I opted not to add this)
Method
1. Heat oven to 350.
2. Grind raw almonds & sugar in a food processor until you have the desired texture; the finer the texture, the more intense the almond flavor & less crunch from the almond. Be careful not to turn the almonds into paste. Transfer mix to large bowl & mix in flour & cranberries.
3. Add egg white, oil, vanilla & almond extracts. Mix until well incorporated.
4. Shape dough into small balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the bottom is slightly brown; the tops will not brown.
5. Transfer to a wire rack & cool completely.
6. Optional- melt chocolate & drizzle over cookies with a fork. Let stand until chocolate sets.
Tips
1. This is another mix where a GF flour mix without baking soda, baking powder & xanthan gum are not needed. I am not sure how the cookies would turn out if you were to use a mix with those added in.
2. The chocolate melted on top is not necessary, in my opinion and you all know how much I love my chocolate.
These are now going to become a holiday staple in our house. You can freeze these for up to 3 months. They have about 75 calories per cookie (recipe made 20 cookies).
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In case you missed this: College Inn has recalled some chicken broth for undeclared wheat. You can read more about it here.
