There is no beating around the bush here – these cookies taste naughty! While this may be healthier chocolate cookie (think unrefined sweeteners, healthier fats, some wholegrain flour, a smattering of spice and goji berries), it’s still going to hit the spot when you want to indulge – just the way a chocolate snickerdoodle should!
There’s a little chilli kick to these chocolate and cinnamon cookies (oooer metabolism boosting) which are also studded with tart and chewy goji berries (mmmmm antioxidants). Warming like a freshly brewed mug of hot chocolate, eat each cookie slowly and mindfully to let the chilli heat and tingling sensation spread over your mouth after a few seconds. Oh yeahhhh! Feeling dangerous? Serve these with some hot chocolate – now we’re playing with fire!
While you may thinks its the sugar/cinnamon topping that turns any old cookie into a snickerdoodle, it’s also the addition of cream of tartar as a rising agent. Unfortunately it’s not an ingredient I keep in the pantry, however the crackly top and soft and pillowy center is easily replicated with other ingredients already in my kitchen!
There’s a few ways to go about this actually and I’ll usually leaven these hot chocolate snickerdoodles with a mixture of cultured milk kefir and baking powder. Don’t worry if you’re not into milk kefir though, as buttermilk or milk/non-dairy beverage and a dash of lemon juice will also do the trick!
- 1 cup white spelt flour
- 1 cup buckwheat flour
- ½ cup raw cacao powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup or rice bran syrup
- 3 tablespoons milk kefir or buttermilk (or 1 cup milk of choice + 1 tsp lemon juice)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup dried goji berries
- ⅓ cup demerara sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 180C. Line baking trays with baking parchment and put aisde.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flours, cocao powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne and salt. Put aside.
- In a second bowl, whisk together coconut oil, sugar, rice malt syrup, milk of choice and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet mixture mixture into the dry, stirring with a wooden spoon until well combined. Gently stir through the goji berries.
- Pour demerara sugar and ¼ tsp ground cinnamon into a shallow dish or plate, stirring to mix. Take ½ tbsp amounts of dough and roll into balls, then gently flatten each ball into a 5cm disc. Place once side of the dough disc into the demerara sugar, pressing to adhere. Place dough, sugar side up, onto prepared baking trays, spacing them at least 5cm apart to allow for spreading.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes or until cookies have spread and are crackly on top. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire baking rack to cool completely.
- Makes about 24 cookies.
Comments 1
Oh. My. Yum. I am definitely going to attempt making a grain-free version of these–they look sooooo good, Ally!! Any suggestions with flour substitutions? Do you think a mix of almond and arrowroot flours could work?