Coconut Almond Cookies with Orange Flavoring...Gluten-free

Coconut Almond Cookies with Orange Flavoring...Gluten-Free I love, love LOVE these cookies! So simple to make and so good...that is, if you love almonds and coconut. These cookies are soft and chewy....a wonderful little macaroon. Some time ago, I stumbled across Rose's blog, AvocadoBravado, where I found quite a few recipes that I really liked. This recipe was one of them...she actually inspired me to make a few other recipes from her blog..... They were all excellent!

This is really a great recipe to have on hand...especially for those who are gluten intolerant or for those who don't want to use any wheat flour. The wheat flour in this recipe is substituted with almond flour/meal. You can buy the almond meal, but I find it is cheaper to grind my own. You can use a food processor, a blender, and even a coffee grinder to grind the almonds. Try to get it as fine as you can...just be careful not to grind it too much as you will end up with almond butter. I like to buy the slivered almonds as it is easier to grind...and, I can always reserve a few slivers for decoration. For this post, I substituted the almond extract with some orange flavor and orange peel. I think it went rather well. I hope you can give these cookies a try. Feel free to add a bit more sugar(original recipe used 1 1/2 TBS stevia). I ended up dipping some of the cookies in chocolate. I felt the sweetness was just right with the addition of the chocolate. In case you are not going to dip the cookie in chocolate( or you prefer your cookie sweeter), you might want to increase the sugar amount. Hope you enjoy...

You will need: Adapted from AvocadoBravado~this makes about 12 cookies or so, not a large batch...

1 1/4 cup almond flour or meal

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

3 TBS sugar( you can use a bit more if you like...)

1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 tsp orange extract( you can use almond)

1 tsp orange zest(optional)

almond slivers, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

If you are grinding your own almond meal, process the almond slivers for about 30 seconds or until finely ground. Remove and measure out 1 1/4 cup. Add to the rest of the dry ingredients and mix( add the orange zest as well, if using). Set aside. Combine the softened butter with the egg and add the flavoring. Mix well until combined( I used my processor to do all this). Add the dry ingredients and mix( or process) until combined. It will be a soft-ish kind of dough.

Refrigerate the dough for about a half hour...I froze mine until the dough was stiff, but still malleable. It was easier to roll the cookies...

Preheat oven to 350F.

Roll out dough into 1″ or 2″ balls and flatten a bit. Place an almond sliver in the middle of each cookie.

Bake for 8-12 minutes(depending on how big your cookies are). I made mine smaller and it took only 8 minutes. Do not let the cookies brown... just until the bottom are lightly golden (this will ensure you have a moist and chewy cookie).

When the bottom of the cookies are golden, remove from oven and let cool. Dip in melted chocolate, if you like.

I loved the cookies dipped in chocolate...it brought the cookies up a notch. Actually, I love any cookies dipped in chocolate:).