Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate and bake for about 15 more minutes, until the top crust is golden and firm to the touch. Don’t worry if some of the chocolate centers ooze out during the baking process. The chocolate can easily be scraped off the pan (and eaten, of course!) once the cookies are baked.
Put the pan on a wire rack and let the cookies cool for at least 20 minutes, until completely cool before turning them out.
Pecan Sandies
MAKES ABOUT 24 COOKIES
Sandies are a classic butter cookie with pecans—a delicious combination. This is one of Denene’s favorite recipes; she recommends making lots of these cookies and sharing them with everyone!
1 cup (4 oz / 113 g) almond flour
1 cup Splenda or Stevia Extract in the Raw, or ½ cup New Roots Stevia Sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (3.5 oz / 99 g) pecans, chopped
1 egg (1.75 oz / 50 g)
¾ cup (6 oz / 170 g) salted butter or margarine, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Position 2 oven racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats, then lightly mist the surfaces with spray oil.
In a medium bowl, combine the pecan flour, almond flour, sweetener, baking soda, and salt and whisk until well mixed. Stir in the pecans. In a large bowl, whisk the egg, butter, and vanilla together until thoroughly blended. Add the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon for 1 to 2 minutes to make a thick, sticky batter (see
Using Texture as a Guide
).
Drop the dough onto the prepared pans, using about 1 heaping tablespoon per cookie and spacing them 3 inches apart.
Bake for 9 minutes, then rotate the pans and switch racks and bake about 9 more minutes, until the cookies are golden brown and firm to the touch.
Immediately transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Biscotti
MAKES ABOUT 12 LARGE OR 24 SMALL BISCOTTI
These gluten-free, sugar-free biscotti rival classic versions made with wheat flour; in fact, in our estimation, their snap and crumble factors and flavors are superior. Biscotti, by definition, are twice-baked cookies, first baked as a soft, mounded loaf, and then sliced and baked again until crisp. They are often used as dipping cookies in coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or even wine. This recipe yields good dippers, but they can stand on their own as one of the most addictive, guilt-free treats you will ever enjoy. Store some of them hidden away in the freezer, as you will be tempted to consume them all if they aren’t out of sight and out of mind.
1 cup (4 oz / 113 g) almond flour
1 cup Splenda or Stevia Extract in the Raw, or ½ cup New Roots Stevia Sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 egg whites (5 oz / 142 g)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup (2.75 oz / 78 g) salted butter or margarine, melted
1½ cups (7.5 oz / 213 g) almonds, coarsely chopped
Chocolate Glaze
1 cup (6 oz / 170 g) sugar-free semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
2 tablespoons (1 oz / 28 g) salted butter (or butter substitute), or soy milk if using ChocoPerfection brand chocolate
Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat, then lightly mist the surface with spray oil.
In a medium bowl, combine the pecan flour, almond flour, coconut flour, sweetener, and baking powder and whisk until well mixed. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and vanilla together until thoroughly blended, then add the butter and whisk for a few seconds, until thoroughly blended. Add the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon for 1 to 2 minutes to make a thick, sticky dough that is moldable (see
Using Texture as a Guide
). Stir in the chopped almonds until evenly distributed.
Use a rubber spatula to transfer the dough to the center of the prepared pan. Using the spatula or wet hands, form it into either 1 large oval about 6 inches wide and 10 to 12 inches long, or 2 smaller ovals about 4 inches wide and 8 inches long. Regardless of size, the ovals should be about ¾ inch tall.
Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown and and still springy when pressed in the center. (It’s important not to overbake at this point, or the loaves will be too difficult to slice.)
Let cool on the pan for 2 minutes, then, while the loaf or loaves are still hot, use a chef’s knife to cut them into ¾-inch slices on a diagonal across the oval. (If the loaves cool too much, they will harden and the pieces will shatter and fall apart when sliced.) Use a metal or plastic spatula to transfer the slices to a wire rack, flat side down, spacing them about ½ inch apart. If you can’t fit them all on one wire rack, use two.
Lower the oven temperature to 275°F (135°C). Put the wire rack with the biscotti back into the oven—rack, biscotti, and all—and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the wire rack, flip the biscotti over (only if necessary for even coloring), then bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or as needed, until all sides of the biscotti are golden brown and feel crisp.
Let the biscotti cool on the rack for about 45 minutes, or until completely cool.
Meanwhile, make the
chocolate glaze. Combine the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler and cook over simmering water, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth. Alternatively, you can combine them in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at medium heat. The chocolate will melt quickly in the microwave and will be damaged if it overheats, so use short, 15-second intervals and stir in between. Once the chocolate is almost melted, use even shorter intervals.
When the biscotti are completely cool to the touch, dip one or both ends of each into the chocolate glaze. Return them to the wire rack and let sit until the chocolate hardens (or, if you can’t wait that long, set a few in the refrigerator to hasten the process). See the
sidebar
below for alternative methods of applying the chocolate glaze.
VARIATION
Chocolate Biscotti:
If you can eat standard chocolate, sweetened with sugar, melt ¼ cup (2 oz / 57 g) of butter or butter substitute with the chocolate chips, instead of 2 tablespoons, to make the glaze more fluid.
Alternate Methods for Applying Chocolate Glaze
To drizzle the glaze over the biscotti in a decorative pattern, use a rubber spatula to transfer the glaze into a plastic sandwich bag or disposable piping bag. Work the chocolate into one corner of the bag and, if using a plastic bag, cut a tiny tip off of that corner. Pipe the chocolate onto one flat side of all of the biscotti in a crisscross pattern. You can also drizzle the melted chocolate off the end of a spoon or spatula in squiggles. Let sit until the chocolate hardens.
You can also use a pastry brush, rubber spatula, or icing spatula to spread chocolate across one flat side of the biscotti for a more solid glaze. Again, let the biscotti sit until the chocolate hardens.
Chapter Six
BROWNIES, CAKES, AND COFFEE CAKES
Cakes are often the highlight of a cookbook (at least in the estimation of the end users—the eaters). Our guess is that it will probably hold true for this book as well. They are also essential for birthdays and other celebrations, and sharing them is part of the occasion. Unfortunately, those who are diabetic or sensitive to gluten are often left on the sidelines. But no more! The recipes in this chapter yield decadent, satisfying cakes that almost everyone can enjoy.
Once you’ve mastered any of the cakes in this chapter, you can use the recipe as a foundation for creating your own unique variations on a delicious theme by using different types of nut and seed flours in different proportions. Here are some tips and ideas about variations that apply to all of the recipes in this chapter:
•
Because various brands of nut flours, levels of grind, and types of nuts absorb liquid differently, you may need to adjust these recipes by adding more liquid or nut flour to achieve the batter texture we describe.
• Most of the cakes can be baked in different pans than those called for. Springform tube pans, Bundt pans, and standard tube pans are all essentially interchangeable, with springform tube pans being easier to remove and therefore the best bet for stickier cakes. Springform tube pans are also great for cakes with crumb toppings; when these are made in a Bundt pan, they’re typically inverted for serving, so the crumb topping ends up on the bottom. With a springform tube pan, you can keep the topping on top.
• Cakes that call for tube-style pans can also be made in standard round cake pans or square or rectangular pans, but baking times will vary depending on the size and shape of the pan chosen. When substituting pans, make sure the alternative pan or pans have a total volume similar to the size of pan we call for, and then follow the doneness cues, rather than baking times, to assess when baking is complete.
• All of the cakes in this chapter are delicious whether served warm, at room temperature, or cold.
• Because these cakes are made with nut and seed flours, which contain substantial amounts of oil, they are more perishable than many conventional baked goods. Be sure to
store any leftovers, tightly covered or wrapped, in the refrigerator or freezer. In the refrigerator, they’ll typically keep for about 7 to 10 days; in the freezer, they’ll keep for several months.
• These cakes have a tendency to stick to the pan more than standard cakes, so we’ve provided special pan preparation in this chapter. Greasing the pan, freezing it, then dusting with coconut flour or almond flour is a sure-fire way to have every cake come out of the pan cleanly and intact. (Coconut flour has the consistency of powdered sugar and it sticks best to the frozen butter; almond flour is fine if you don’t have coconut flour.) If baking in a standard round cake pan or loaf pan, you can also cut out baking parchment to fit the bottom of the pan, then mist it with spray oil.
