Gingersnap Cookies & being 'baking resilient'

When one gets the urge to bake, there can be an over exaggerated disappointment when the necessary ingredients are not at the ready. Resiliency can be defined as 'the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties'. Whoa. Who couldn't use a bit more of that trait? Here are some tips on how to recover quickly if you are having a baking emergency and you are not fully armed with the suggested ingredients. Eggs - If you are missing eggs but have flax or chia, never fear! For a "flax egg" mix 1 TBSP ground flax with 3 TBSP of water, combine and let sit for about 5-10 mins. A "chia egg" can be made the same way with 1 TBSP ground or whole chia to 4 TBSP water. Use your judgment here and replace no more than 2 eggs using one of these techniques.

Milk - Depending on the recipe, you can just use water or another liquid or blend a bit of nut butter in some warm water to make a quick milk for baking. If you have any coconut milk in the cupboard this will often work as will diluting a little bit of yogurt.

Butter - Many recipes work beautifully with coconut oil substituted for butter. You could also whisk olive oil and a ripe avocado together (if this will work with the other flavours of your recipe-like a zucchini loaf perhaps) and some recipes will work with some oil and applesauce combined well.

Flour - Don't have that full cup of flour that the recipe calls for? Grind some nuts, seeds or rolled oats in your blender or food processor to make up the difference. You can often replace about one third of the flour with ground nuts, seeds or oats without changing the outcome.

There are lots of great substitutions that work well for bare cupboards, allergy needs or even making things vegetarian or vegan friendly. These gingersnap cookies are very thin and crispy on the outside and chewy inside proving that eggs, butter and even some of the flour could be missing from your shelves.

This resiliency thing would be wise to follow us out of the kitchen… How do you handle the ups and downs of life?

  

Gingersnap Cookies

1 cup oat flour made from just grinding rolled oats until you have a flour (use GF oats if needed)

1 cup flour (we used GF Namaste Perfect Flour Blend, but you should be able to use any GF, whole grain or ancient grain flour)

1/2 cup coconut sugar (or any other granulated sugar)

1 TBSP ground ginger

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 flax egg (1 TBSP ground flax and 3 TBSP water, whisk and let it sit for 5-10 mins)

2/3 cup coconut oil, softened or gently melted on the stovetop

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup blackstrap molasses

Preheat oven to 350F.

Make your flax egg, set aside and then measure out the dry ingredients. The wet ingredients could all be combined in the pot on the stove that is softening the coconut oil. Scrape all the wet ingredients (including that flax egg!) into the dry and combine well using a spoon - no need for a mixer. Cover and put in the fridge for 15-60 minutes.

Using an ice cream scoop or equivalent, scoop out balls slightly smaller than a golf ball and roll them in your hands to make them even. Space them quite far apart as they really spread - try about 6 cookies on a cookie sheet depending on the size of your sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, longer for a crispier cookie and shorter if you like them more chewy. Leave them to cool for about 10 minutes before attempting to move them as they are too fragile to move until they are almost totally cooled.

   

You can dip your cookie ball in a bit of sugar if you want that crust, but these are great without it. Another yummy addition is some crystallized ginger cut up into little bits and mixed in with your dry ingredients. These can also be made into cookie sandwiches by beating together equal amounts of chèvre and honey with a splash of vanilla until light and fluffy and spreading it between two cookies. Yum!

Wishing you resiliency wherever it is needed in your life...

Posted by Amy Buckman, Community Ambassador, Calgary Amaranth Markets