Snickerdoodles

I had never heard of snickerdoodles until I was in junior high. Then a sharing-type friend brought them in her lunch one day. They were homemade by her mother and totally yummy. Since I liked them so much I found a recipe and learned to make them myself.



Since being on the candida diet I have not had any kind of cookie for well over four years. Over the last several months I've been adding things back into my diet to see how it would go. I blogged about the brownies here. I have made that recipe several times and I think I've got it to where I like it best. I added 1+ tsp of liquid stevia which tones down the strong chocolate flavor. In addition to the brownies, I've also added fruit, mostly berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries).

I admit I just added homemade ice cream and dessert from various restaurants. ;-) Learning as I go, I decided I must be very, very picky about eating desserts. For example, Amy & I went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner recently and after dinner we shared Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cheesecake. "Shared" meaning she had about three bites and I had the rest. It was that night I made my dessert decision. Eating the rest of the cheesecake was excessive and after the first few bites I could have stopped and been very happy. But no, I had to finish it and by the time it was gone it was no longer good. While nothing overly bad happened, I was more full than necessary and slightly uncomfortable. So in order for me to have dessert it has to be something I know I'll love, if not I don't order any.

On to the snickerdoodles. I came across a recipe that uses almond flour instead of wheat flour. Here's the recipe.

Almond Flour Snickerdoodles
2 ½ cups blanched almond flour
½ cup arrowroot powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp sea salt
5 tbsp butter, melted
½ cup pure maple syrup
2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
½ tsp ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, combine flour, arrowroot powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together melted butter, maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon, until well blended. Add wet ingredients to the dry, using a fork to blend until thoroughly combined. Chill dough in refrigerator for a half-hour (or up to 24-hours).
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop dough, one tablespoon at a time, and roll into a ball using your hands. Place dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet and gently flatten them slightly using the palm of your hand. Then, lightly sprinkle tops with additional ground cinnamon.
Bake for 8-9 minutes, until lightly golden around edges. Allow to cool on baking sheet for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Makes about three dozen cookies.



These cookies were good enough that I ate all of them in a few days (yes, apparently I have food issues). They are not as sweet as ones with sugar, but a very good substitute.

Now, here's to being self-disciplined about these "new" foods.