Personally I am not gluten intolerant, but I’m always looking for ways to bring different foods into my diet to make it as varied as possible as this is so good for our gut flora. That means not just using wheat flour in everything and perhaps something a little different from time to time. Like these Sunflower and Pine Nut Cookies which are made with a flour created with the seeds.
These protein packed biscuits are so tasty and sweet despite having no refined sugar in them. They have a little bit of sweetness from the agave nectar / rice malt syrup / honey – you decide – but much of the sweetness and flavour comes from the delicious pine nuts which are so naturally sweet. All the seeds also means these cookies are high in omega oils. They contain no nuts, so can be put in a kids lunchboxes and are good for anyone who has a nut allergy and is looking to include more plant protein in their life.
You can top them with nothing at all, some traditional jam (I’ve used some home-made blackberry and apple because we still have lots of jars left) or you can use my 5 minute chia jam instead. If you don’t want the extra crunch of the seeds which you put to one side when making flour, then just make a flour from the whole lot and have a smoother texture.
These Sunflower and Pine Nut Cookies can be frozen, so I like to make as a double batch, wrap and just pop straight into a lunchbox box from the freezer. There are also a brilliant breakfast on the go or a post gym snack.
Sunflower and Pine Nut Cookies
Ingredients
- 180g sunflower seeds
- 40g pine nuts
- 50g buckwheat flour
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 50g coconut oil or butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons agave nectar, rice malt syrup or honey
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- Around 3 tablespoons of jam of your choice
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 150°C Fan/ 180°C/Gas 4. Line a baking tray with parchment or a silicone liner.
- Step 2 In a dry frying pan toast the seeds and pine nuts by stirring them while they begin to colour. Remove from the heat and set 3 tablespoons to one side, blitz the rest in a food processor or high speed blender to make a flour.
- Step 3 In one bowl mix the seed flour, whole seeds, flour, arrowroot, baking powder and salt. Mix well.
- Step 4 In another bowl beat the egg, melted oil/butter, nectar/syrup and vanilla.
- Step 5 Add the wet mix to the dry and combine until you have a firm dough.
- Step 6 Take tablespoons of the mixture and form into round patties, make a dip in the middle for a half teaspoon of jam.
- Step 7 Bake for 10-15mins until golden brown, allow to cool before serving as they will get firmer as they cool.
