Hello lovelies, I have a new recipe for you today for some delicious, vegan cookies with peanuts, cranberries, maca, coconut flour and oats. I received some maca powder and coconut flour from nu3.ch the other day and wanted to use both in one recipe. I experimented a bit, since it was the first time I used coconut flour, which can be a little tricky. And these yummy cookies are the result:
What exactly is maca?
Maca was completely new to me back when I first made these cookies, and I have been a fan of its gentle malty note ever since. The root grows high up in the Peruvian Andes, is related to radishes and turnips, and is dried and ground into a soft, light-brown powder. Flavour-wise maca tastes like a mix of caramel, malt and a hint of nut, which is exactly why it works so beautifully in sweet bakes. As a bonus it brings along plant protein, fibre, iron, copper and vitamin C. One tablespoon is plenty to start with – maca is fairly punchy, and I like it when the peanut still comes through clearly.
How to keep these vegan cookies soft
The lovely thing about these cookies is that they are egg-free yet still turn out beautifully moist. A mashed banana and a little egg replacer do the binding, while the coconut flour soaks up excess moisture and keeps the crumb tender. One quick note: coconut flour is far more absorbent than regular flour, so do stick to the amount given or the cookies will turn dry. I use two spoons to shape walnut-sized mounds, press them down only lightly and bake them briefly – better a touch too early than too late. The most important part comes afterwards: let them cool completely on the tray, because fresh from the oven they are still very soft and would otherwise fall apart.
Janine from Nutsandblueberries.com published all the participants of the blog parade on her blog back then, so please go and check out all the healthy fast-food recipes from so many awesome bloggers from around the world here: http://nutsandblueberries.de/sandwich_vegan_tzatziki/ – it was a pleasure to be part of it.
If these have you craving more vegan baking, be sure to try my cookies with dates for a naturally sweet version, my espresso cookies for coffee lovers, or my vegan cookies from 1 dough in 3 kinds for a fun baking afternoon. I can't wait to hear how you like the maca peanut cookies.
This post was created in cooperation with nu3.ch.
