fftf: 2 creative ideas for your cookie exchange 🍪

Hi hi! It's December!

Seems like a good month for cookies :) In all honesty, I have never participated in a cookie exchange, but it sounds pretty fun. Usually around the holidays I try to dissuade my mom from making too many cookies because I always end up eating them ALL, but last year she convinced me to help make cookie tins to deliver around to all the people we weren't seeing... and it was so lovely, tasty and fun! There's nothing like a cookie bite (or 3) to go with your coffee...

So here are my two creative ideas for this year's cookie needs. They are both on the healthier side and a little different, per usual for my tastes!!

Cookie Idea #1 - my favorite (barely sweet) Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

Now actually... these might not be the best in a cookie tin as they are kind of delicate/sticky and would probably stick to everything so you'd have to wrap lightly in parchment. Also these get softer over time (which is fine with me), and they also have a shorter shelf life than most cookies as they are made with mostly almond flour/butter. They are super tasty, though, so I highly recommend you make them! They also happen to be gluten free, dairy free, optionally egg free, deliciously gingery, and a huge crowd pleaser.

Cookie Idea #2 - I shared this recipe in May but it was buried in a long granola email so probably didn't garner the attention it deserves... not actually a cookie but one of my favorite Granolas, and a revelation: Sqirl’s Puffed Granola (aka Turmeric Millet-nola)

This recipe basically blows the idea of granola out of the water and (in my chef-y opinion) is a an utterly unique creation of textural wonder, with complex flavor to boot. It's a tiny bit complicated, but SO MUCH FUN to make! And holiday baking season is the perfect excuse to try it!

I think this would work PERFECTLY in an assorted tin of cookies - something new and different! It would be the talk of the cookie party! It would ALSO make a great gift, given in a cute jar! I sent this to my new in-laws before I met them (had to pull out all the stops for that first impression!) and they were still talking about it months later when we finally met.

If I haven't convinced you yet, let me continue... Making this recipe will give you the brief pleasure of feeling like a mad scientist. It will happen for just a minute at the step where you add baking soda to the hot liquid, which will foam up and suddenly double in size instantaneously and you will be amazed! Next, you’ll be soothed with the comforting nostalgia of making rice crispy treats as you use the hot, buttery liquid foam to join together all the spiced, nutty puffs into a sticky, pliable mix. Then you’ll bake it for a quick 15 minutes, let it cool, and finally snap it off into delectable, crispy, airy chunks. Yes, you will have to order puffed grains online (I’ve found them hard to come by in stores) but it will be SO WORTH IT! You have options, many of them gluten-free: puffed rice, puffed millet, puffed kamut, even puffed quinoa! The addition of turmeric will make everything golden and earthy... OMG it's just SO GOOD!

Recipes below - I hope you make and enjoy! Happy Cookie Time!

Love,
Jess

PS. I'll be teaching more zoom cooking classes in the new year! Another round of Intuitive Cooking Tonight is pencilled in for Thursday, January 13, 2022. Signups will go live the first week of January and more classes will be scheduled then too. In the meantime, I added gift cards to my website (woohoo!!!), so you can now gift a Garlic Press Jess class to anyone you love and do a future class together!

For other "experience" gift ideas, check out last week's email. And for physical gift ideas, check out my thoughtful gift guide (from 2019 but still my favorite things to gift!), as well as my kitchen shop page which has all my favorite kitchen gadgets! (The links are mainly to amazon but I highly encourage you to support small local businesses instead/as much as you can!)

Don't forget those GPJ gift cards!

GPJ (barely sweet) Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

This recipe is adapted from one posted by @shaunmahern - one of my favorite writers
Makes 24 cookies (if you only want 12 then halve it and it works perfectly)
Takes about 1 hour: 45 mins active time, 15 mins baking time

Notes:

Aquafaba is the goopy liquid in a can of chickpeas, so you'll need to add a can of chickpeas to your grocery list for this recipe. For an idea on how to use the chickpeas, check out this recipe for beet hummus, one of my favs! It sounds super weird to use this, but it makes the cookies a tad crispier and you can't taste it at all. You can use eggs instead - that will taste equally delicious but result in a slightly cakier texture.
Almond butter: I've used almond butter and an almond/hazelnut butter combo when testing this recipe, but feel free to try other nut butters or combinations - I would guess they'd work well! Make sure to check whether the almond butter you're using is salted or unsalted, and also whether it's sweetened! If it's salted then leave out the salt or taste and add to your liking. If it's sweetened, you'll just end up with a sweeter cookie, which is totally fine since these aren't very sweet!
Measuring pro-tip: add a dash of olive oil to the cup measure before measuring out the almond butter and the molasses (and also in between measures if using multiple times) - this will help it slide out more easily and won't affect the flavor.
Just in case you were wondering - the purpose of the apple cider vinegar is that it reacts with the baking soda to help the cookies rise.

Ingredients:

4 cups almond flour (or almond meal)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (if using a different kind of salt use less, about half or 3/4 this amount)
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
dash nutmeg + dash cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 cup blackstrap molasses
1 cup + 1/3 cup almond butter, unsalted and unsweetened recommended, see note above
1 can’s worth of aquafaba (about 12 Tbsp) OR substitute 4 eggs
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Equipment:

hand mixer or stand mixer (you might be able to get away with just whisking but it will be a workout!)
2 medium-large mixing bowls
2 sheet trays with parchment
colander and liquid measuring cup or small bowl
Tsp, Tbsp, and cup(s) measures
large spoon, fork, silicone spatula, metal spatula
can opener

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place parchment paper on 2 baking sheets.
Get out a liquid measuring cup or small bowl and place a colander over it. Open can of chickpeas and pour into the colander over the bowl to drain + capture the aquafaba. Alternatively, when opening the can, leave the top just barely attached. Holding your finger to the lid and pour out, allowing the aquafaba to drain into a liquid measuring cup. (If using eggs, skip this step.)
With a fork, mix together the 4 cups almond flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp ginger, 2 tsp cinnamon, and 1 tsp salt plus a dash of nutmeg and/or cayenne pepper if using. Break up any clumps as needed.
Add the 1 cup + 1/3 cup almond butter and 1/2 cup molasses to a separate bowl (or to the bowl of a stand mixer). Turn the mixer on medium speed and combine until well mixed and a little fluffy. Pour in the aquafaba with the mixer running, or in a few batches. Add the 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar and mix again.
With the mixer running on low and/or 1/3 at a time, add the dry ingredients until everything is well blended.
The batter should be very thick and will seem a bit sticky. Pour some water into a ramekin or small bowl and use it to wet your hands and help keep the batter from sticking to them as you form the cookie shapes. Use a large spoon to make small ball-sized-portions of the thick batter. Roll each ball in your hands, shape it a bit, place it on the baking sheet and pat down slightly. Fill the tray, leaving about 2 inches of space between each cookie. There should be about 12 cookies on each sheet. Bake until the tops are cracking beautifully and the cookies look and feel set when you tap the tops/edges with your finger. This will take about 12-18 minutes depending on what size you make them. Set timer for 12 as you don't want to over-bake. I find about 14 mins to be ideal.
Note that these need to cool before you remove them from the cookie sheet. (They are much easier to remove when cool. And I highly recommend this spatula.) If, when you taste them, they are a bit underdone, you can always bake for a few more minutes, no problem.
On the first day / right after you bake, the edges will be a little bit crispy - this is ideal and amazing! By the next day, the edges will soften. They are still just as delicious with the soft edges. Cookies will last several days in an airtight container.

See my original write up here with some more pics too.

Hi, I'm Jess! I help health-conscious, busy people transform their cooking from chore to lifestyle through intuitive cooking, which I teach through online classes, free content, coaching and more. This is my newsletter, Food for Thought Fridays, where I share highly actionable tips and inspiration to help you cook more intuitively (which makes cooking feel easier and SO much more fun!). Once a month, I share a recipe that's really worth making, and I only share those with my email subscribers. Sometimes the text above may include affiliate links, meaning (at no additional cost to you) I get a commission if you click through and make a purchase. This helps me to continue to share free content, so I would love it if you buy through my link! Thank you for supporting Garlic Press Jess!

I currently work + live on land that is the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone. And I can't wait to eat at Cafe Ohlone! Check out this article about them.