Winter has arrived so let’s turn on our ovens and bake some cookies! In the last week before our Christmas break, we baked sunflower and sesame cookies as an alternative recipe to peanut butter cookies since some students are allergic to nuts. Both sunflower and sesame seeds can blend smoothly into a thick paste similar to peanut butter and can be found in a lot of grocery stores as “sunflower (seed) butter” and “tahini”.
While I love teaching students how to measure with your eyes while cooking, baking is all about accuracy, so this was a great way to teach them how to measure ingredients with a kitchen scale. This is the recipe that I’ve developed to fit inside 2 mini sheet trays of toaster oven so feel free to double or triple the recipe if you wish to make more since these cookies freeze and defrost perfectly too.
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½ egg (25 g) OR ½ TB chia/flax seeds (7 g) + 1 ½ TB water (23 g)
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½ C nut/seed butter (125 g)
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¼ C sugar (50 g)
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¼ tsp salt
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½ tsp baking powder
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½ tsp vanilla
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1/3 C flour (40 g)
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Optional: ½ tsp cinnamon or 1-2 TB cacao powder (7-15 g)
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Toppings: chocolate chip, coconut flakes, dried cranberry, etc.
One student was allergic to eggs so I substituted it with chia seeds soaked in water for 5 minutes which will gel and become as viscous as eggs. Flax seeds may be used as another substitute, but it has to be freshly grounded to make the nutrients more bioavailable. Then simply stir in the butter, sugar, salt, baking powder, vanilla and cinnamon or cacao powder until homogeneous. Lastly, stir in the flour slowly until just combined, being careful to not overmix the dough which can make the cookies tough. Divide the dough into 12-24 cookies depending on how big you want the cookies. Lay down a sheet of parchment paper or silicone mat on the sheet tray, then roll the dough into balls and gently press down some toppings of your choice. Bake at 400 F for 8-12 minutes or 350 F for 12-15 minutes if time allows, then cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Surprisingly, sometimes the chlorophyll inside the sun butter interacts with the baking powder creating a green cookie! We don’t bake sweet treats in our class often, but when we do, we typically make them as a way to celebrate holidays and remind them it’s okay to indulge once in a while. Also, it’s always a good idea to incorporate nuts and seeds into your confections as the protein, fiber, and healthy fats will make it a balanced snack that will satisfy your cravings while keeping you full longer and prevent a sugar crash. We hope you all had a wonderful holiday, and we can’t wait to share more healthy and delicious recipes in the new year!
