Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Coconut Smackies

Cookies? On a sugar- and gluten-free diet? Hell yeah.

Many thanks to Kelly E. Keough and her book Sugar-free Gluten-free Baking and Desserts; a book that I am super-excited to try more recipes from, by the way. Technically, I shouldn't have started with them just yet, as her recipes call for agave which I shouldn't have in my diet until the end of February. But they called for 4 egg whites and I just happened to have them from the hollandaise from the night before. And besides, there's only 2 tbsp of agave for the whole batch, so as far as being bad goes, it's still way ahead. And it's so very awesome to be back in the cookie-making/eating world. (I do limit myself to two a day.)


These little cookies are awesome! With the addition of protein powder, they actually are quite satisfying as a quick sweet snack, which is definitely something I could use more of in my life. They are sweetened with Stevia, made from the extract of the Sweetleaf plant. It does have a distinct flavor that some people don't care for/requires some getting used to. But considering it's natural (read labels, as some companies use chemical fillers) and zero calories, it's super rad. It's up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, so it does take some getting used to with ratios and such. But it's such a Godsend for people looking to cut sugar out of their diet. Like me. And when used with the agave, I found the flavor to be much less noticeable.

I have included a link to a clip of Kelly Keough making them on veria.com. I'm sad I don't get this station on tv, but they have a lot of clips from many of their shows. The recipe in her book and that in the clip do vary, so I've included the ratios I used.


Coconut Smackie-Mackies

Ingredients

4 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
pinch of salt
3/4 tsp liquid Stevia (she likes the Vanilla Creme by Sweetleaf, but I only have the unflavored)
2 tbsp light agave
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract (you can use 1/2 tsp if you prefer)
2 c unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 c vanilla rice or whey protein powder* (I found it to be one of the single serving packets of the whey powder I used.)
2 tbsp tapioca starch
2 tbsp almond meal

*If you want these to be sugar-free, make sure you're are using unsweetened/stevia-sweetened powder. There are a lot of brands sweetened with sugar.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Either spray cookie sheet and line with parchment paper or line with aluminum foil covered with parchment paper.

Using the whisk attachment of your stand mixer (though I assume this possible by hand), whisk egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add salt, Stevia, agave, vanilla and almond extract; beat until it's shiny.

Gently fold in coconut, protein powder, tapioca starch and almond meal. Drop by the tbsp onto cookie sheet and bake 12-15 minutes (until golden). Don't overcook, as apparently it makes them hard. Immediately transfer to a wire rack and let them cool for an hour before eating.



Delicious! And oh so inspiring. I actually have a couple more recipes for this week, so keep an eye out. :D This project also gave me hope that sometime in the future (when I've managed to become more comfortable with sugar- and gluten-free baking), I'd like to join the Daring Bakers Challenge. We'll see how it goes.

2 comments:

  1. Oh if only I could have egg whites, they look yum!

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  2. Thanks! I'm sorry they aren't good for you. Hopefully I will find some other recipes that inspire, while not conflicting with your diet. :)

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