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Chickpea Flour and Coconut Flake Cookies
Instructions
Tip the wheat flour (160 g) and chickpea flour (100 g) into a deep bowl and stir together. This is the base of the cookies – the wheat flour gives structure and binds the dough, while the chickpea flour adds its characteristic nutty taste, protein and nourishment. If I am making the gluten-free version, I replace the wheat flour with a mix of corn and rice flour in equal proportions (80 g of each).
Add the coconut flakes (30 g) and the sugar (60–70 g) and stir the dry ingredients together. The coconut flakes give the cookies a pleasant texture, a tropical aroma and a lightly crisp crust, while the sugar provides the necessary sweetness. You can replace the sugar with honey or maple syrup for a healthier option.
Wash the apple, peel it and remove the seeds, cut it into cubes and blend in a blender to a smooth puree. Add the apple puree to the dry mix along with the baking powder or soda (1 tsp.). The apple puree completely replaces the eggs in this recipe; it keeps the dough moist, binds the ingredients and adds a light fruity note. The soda or baking powder reacts with the acid in the apple and makes the cookies lighter.
Pour in the vegetable oil (3 tbsp.) and the water (100 g). The oil is needed for softness, a crumbly texture and moisture in the cookies, while the water helps bring all the ingredients together into a smooth dough. I use a neutral vegetable oil (sunflower or refined coconut), but you can use olive oil.
Mix everything thoroughly with a spoon or fork until you have a smooth, slightly sticky dough. I do not use a mixer – the dough should not be over-worked; it is enough to simply combine all the ingredients until there are no lumps left. The dough comes out soft, moist and pliable.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Shape the dough into small balls (roughly the size of a walnut), place them on the sheet 3–4 cm apart and gently flatten each ball with a spoon or your palm, giving it the shape of a round cookie about 1 cm thick. You can shape the dough with your hands or with two spoons.
Put the baking sheet of cookies into an oven preheated to 180°C and bake for 27–32 minutes, until they turn a golden creamy colour and smell lovely. The finished cookies should be firm and lightly browned at the edges. Take them out of the oven and let them cool completely on a wire rack – hot cookies are soft, but once cooled they become crisp and crumbly.
Tips
- 1
You can make chickpea flour yourself: grind dry chickpeas in a powerful coffee grinder to a flour, then sift it through a fine sieve 2–3 times to remove any large pieces. Home-made chickpea flour is fresher and more fragrant than shop-bought.
- 2
For a fully gluten-free version, replace the wheat flour (160 g) with a mix of corn and rice flour in equal proportions (80 g of each). The cookies come out just as tasty and crumbly, and they are suitable for people with coeliac disease.
- 3
Experiment with variations: instead of the apple use a ripe banana (it turns out sweeter and more fragrant), add chocolate chips, chopped nuts, chia or flax seeds, or sprinkle the tops with poppy seeds, cinnamon or sesame before baking.
- 4
Store the finished cookies in an airtight glass or plastic container at room temperature for up to 7 days. They stay fresh and crumbly and do not go stale. In the fridge they can be kept for up to 2 weeks.
FAQ
Can I replace the apple with another fruit? +
Yes, I often replace the apple with a ripe banana (1 medium banana instead of the apple) – the cookies come out sweeter, more fragrant and moister. You can also use pear, or apricot or peach puree. The main thing is that the fruit should be ripe and juicy.
Do I have to use chickpea flour, or can I replace it? +
Chickpea flour gives the cookies their characteristic nutty taste, nourishment and high protein content. If you do not have it, you can replace it with oat flour, almond flour, or simply add more wheat flour (260 g instead of 160 g + 100 g of chickpea). The taste will be different, but the cookies will still come out tasty.
How do I make the cookies completely gluten-free? +
I replace the wheat flour (160 g) with a mix of corn flour (80 g) and rice flour (80 g). Chickpea flour is naturally gluten-free. I make sure the baking powder is gluten-free too. The cookies come out crumbly and are suitable for people with coeliac disease or gluten intolerance.
Why did my cookies turn out too dry or crumbly? +
You may have added too much flour or not enough liquid (apple puree and water). Another cause can be over-baking – I bake them strictly for 27–32 minutes at 180°C, no longer. If the dough seems dry, I add another 1–2 tbsp. of water.
Can I reduce the amount of sugar or replace it? +
Yes, you can reduce the sugar to 40–50 g or replace it completely with honey, maple syrup, agave syrup or date paste (60–70 g). The cookies will be less sweet but more wholesome. If I use a banana instead of an apple, the sugar can be left out altogether – the banana gives enough sweetness.
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