our first and best steps begin with food
Chewy and dense, these gluten-free treats are a perfect blend of sweet, tart, and macro-balanced (they offer protein, fat, and complex carbohydrates)! You can easily adapt them to avoid for sensitivity to ingredients your body can’t tolerate — sub in sunflower seed butter for the almond butter, or seeds for the pistachios, for example. I think you’ll find these rather comforting and tasty.
Makes: 14 with a small cookie scoop. Time: about 20 mins.
½ c creamy (or natural) almond butter — I use a locally ground nut butter with small chunks, and it works well
6 T pure maple syrup
1 T ground flaxseed
1 T pumpkin-pie spice
¼ tsp fine sea salt
½ c gluten-free old-fashioned/rolled oats (not instant)
½ c brown puffed rice cereal (organic crispy rice cereal works, too)
¼ c dried cherries or cranberries (unsweet if possible. Natural food stores are a great resource for these.)
¼ c unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped — or seeds of your choice
1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Stir together the almond butter, syrup, flaxseed, spice powder and salt in a large bowl. Add oats, cereal, cherries and pistachios; stir or mix with your hands until every ingredient is evenly incorporated. The batter will be thick and sticky.
3. Using a cookie scoop (or about 1 ½ T) of batter, roll into tight balls and place about 2 inches apart on the parchment. Flatten each ball to about ½ inch thick, pushing any loose pieces together.
4. Bake about 10 minutes or until golden on top. Leave cookies on the pan to cool for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.