Cookbook Giveaway #1: The Almond Flour Cookbook and Chewy Chocolate Cookie Sandwich Recipe
The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook has been feeding my latest curiosity, grain-free cooking and baking. The day I received this book I was so excited by the potential of all of the recipes … no special binders required, short ingredient lists, seriously whole foods oriented.
There was just one little snag … the author, Elana Amsterdam of Elana’s Pantry is adamant that you must use blanched almond flour to get desired results. And I was really hesitant to load up on 5 lbs of almond flour via the internet without knowing if we were even going to like almond flour baked goodies. So I cheated. Yes Elana, I ground my own unblanched “raw” almonds and sifted to get the best of it. But, I am not here to complain in the slightest. The results were awesome … so awesome in fact that I placed that order for the unblanched almond flour, and can’t wait to see how it elevates these baked treats even more. Trust me, you won’t miss the wheat, or the xanthan gum, or any other alternatives for that matter … these recipes are marvelous!
FYI, I ordered a 5 lb bag from Honeyville (the brand Elana recommends most), and I had a coupon code from the company’s newsletter. Use the coupon code: VETERANS from now through November 17th, and get 15% off your order. And whatever you do, order direct. Do not order this product from Amazon, as they mark it up another $10! With the coupon code, the price is pretty respectable from Honeyville.
You can read my full review of The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook on Go Dairy Free. For today, I will just give you a taste of the items I have made so far, and a sample recipe to entice you!
I started with the Peach Blueberry Crumble recipe first, but made it into an Apple Raisin Crumble (I subbed 5 medium apples, diced and ½ cup of raisins for the fruit, and also sprinkled ½ teaspoon of cinnamon on the fruit). Perfect for a snowy morning …
What I liked about this recipe was that not only was it grain-free, but it was completely unsweetened. I had been trying to figure out how to make apple crisp breakfast-friendly, and it had never occurred to me to simply omit the sweetener and let the crumble and fruit shine on their own! However, because I was out of vanilla (I know, heaven forbid!), and the recipe called for a whole tablespoon, I subbed in maple syrup. So mine wasn’t totally unsweetened, but 1 tablespoon of maple syrup for an entire pan of apple crumble is pretty low on the sugar spectrum. There is a sweetened fruit crisp recipe in the book too, but I liked this one for a nice change of pace. The only thing I would change next time is to reduce the salt just a smidge.
Next up was the Chewy Chocolate Cookies. They were delicious! They were beautifully chewy cookies that were slightly sweet and gently chocolaty. Using a suggestion from the recipe, I decided to make the cookies smaller, and turn them into sandwich cookies with a layer of vanilla frosting between them. Absolute perfection! Once again, the instructions (aside from not mentioning that you need to pack the almond flour – pack your almond flour! This isn’t fluffy all-purpose stuff.) and the cooking times/temps were spot on.
Okay, are you ready for a recipe or do you want to jump right ahead to the giveaway? Let’s start with the giveaway, shall we?
- To enter to win this fabulous cookbook, leave a comment on this post telling me why you want to win The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.
- To receive a bonus entry, spread the word about this giveaway … tweet it, share it with your friends on facebook, mention it on your blog, or email some colleagues … whatever works for you. Just make sure you come back here and leave a second comment letting me know you did.
Entries will close at midnight TODAY, so get your entry in now! All of this week’s cookbook winners will be announced at the end of the week.
Update: Feel free to comment on this post and the recipe, but official entries for The Almond Flour Cookbook giveaway closed on Monday, November 16 at midnight, the winner will be announced on Saturday, November 21. Head back to the main page on One Frugal Foodie for current giveaways and posts.
Recipe time!
Chewy Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
Recipe adapted from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.
Since I used homemade almond flour, and didn’t want to spend all day grinding and sifting, I reduced the batch size of the recipe, and adjusted some of the ingredients accordingly. Also, I didn’t have any agave nectar on hand (we aren’t big fans), but found that honey and maple syrup do sub nicely.
This recipe is Vegan, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Soy-Free, Free from Refined Sugars, and far easier than it looks – boy I do ramble on, don’t I?
- 3/4 Cup Almond Flour, packed*
- 2 Tablespoons Arrowroot Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/8 Teaspoon Sea Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Grapeseed Oil
- 3 Tablespoons Agave Nectar, Honey, or Maple Syrup – or combination (I used 2 tablespoons honey + 1 tablespoon maple syrup)
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Frosting (optional) (I was sampling the frosting from Sean’s Food, but you can use the Marshmallow Frosting Recipe in the Almond Flour Cookbook, Elana’s Coconut Cream Frosting, the Vanilla Frosting in Go Dairy Free, this Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting, or whatever creamy filling you choose)
Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the almond flour, arrowroot, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the sweetener(s), oil, and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients in your medium bowl, until well combined.
Scoop the dough by the tablespoon onto your prepared baking sheet. I found the dough to be just a touch sticky but fairly pliable, allowing me to loosely roll them into balls.
Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Do not overcook them. The tops of the cookies will start to look a little dry and crack a bit when done, but not as much as chocolate cookies that contain eggs. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet or a wire rack for 30 minutes.
If making sandwich cookies, spread frosting (however much you want!) on the bottom of one cookie and top it with the bottom of another cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies. Take a bite, smoosh and enjoy.
*Elana recommends blanched almond flour, which I am sure is superior. If you are like me and just have some raw almonds on hand and want to trial this recipe out, pulse them in your spice grinder until a mealy/floury consistency is reached. This happens very fast, do not overgrind lest you end up with almond butter. Using a mesh sieve, sift the almond flour to extract the finest bits to use for your flour. Repeat until you have the amount you need. Don’t fear waste either; you can turn any rejects into almond butter!
Yields a dozen soft and chewy cookies or six smooshable sandwich cookies
128 thoughts on “Cookbook Giveaway #1: The Almond Flour Cookbook and Chewy Chocolate Cookie Sandwich Recipe”
I have celiac disease and always try to find recipes that are gluten free. This sounds like a cookbook I could really use.
For my friend Debbie who needs to watch her gluten intake!
I would love to win because my boyfriend’s family is gf. I need something yummy to make for when they come over for the holidays.
I’d love to win this cookbook because we are now cutting gluten out of our 5 yr old’s diet and I can use all the help I can get!
I would love to win this book since it covers all my major allergens! I love elana and have been admiring this book forever but as a college student, haven’t bought it yet!
My son has had severe allergies since birth and is now 10. I thought I had all his recipes down and we were doing great. Eventually his eczema began to get severe again and we found out that his allergies had changed and that oat flour and bananas were now bothering him. We’ve always stayed away from wheat, but now oats/bananas are an issue. I am trying to learn how to bake and cook gluten free and it’s all new again. I feel overwhelmed. I have four children and it’s hard to have time to find good recipes. He is also allergic to dairy and eggs, so we are very limited. Having the cookbook would be a godsend!
I’ve never tried GLuten Free recipes…I’ve heard eating that way really changes your system for the better though. Would be excited to try it out.
How could I resist? This is so much like my own baking. And I’d love to eat pretty much everything in the book! 😉
I’ve been gluten-free for several years, but have never tried baking with almond flour. I would love to try these recipes!
My neices have Celiac’s disease and my sister is always looking for better recipes. Sooooo, if I win it, I will gift it to my sister. From your review, if I don’t win it, it looks like the perfect Christmas gift. Thanks!
Your cookies look excellent. I used to make Chinese almond cookies from ground up almonds and they were delicious. (Don’t enter me in the contest. Although this looks like a wonderful cookbook, I think one of your gluten-free readers should win.)
I’m dying to win this cookbook – I love Elana’s site, and want to try more baking with almond flour. I have a gluten intolerance, and am still learning about gluten-free baking, so this would be perfect for me.
I have been gluten free for 3 weeks now so I am always on the prowl for new tips and tricks not to mention recipes to make my new lifestyle easier. GFree is definitely and adjustment but we’re lucky we have a great big supportive community!
I twittered the contest @GFreeLizzie to spread the word 🙂
What a fabulous idea/book!
Alisa – I NEED this book! My life was blessed recently by a first grandchild (Lily!) and she is a doll (natch 🙂 and she is eating gluten free. What fun would it be to go to Grandma’s house if she doesn’t know how to bake anything for you???
I’m planning to learn to cook gluten-free to make Miss Lily smile!!!
I would love to win this cookbook! Elana has such fabulous recipes – I’m sure the book would be that much more amazing =D.
I would love to try something new, and the recipies look delicious
tweeted
http://twitter.com/rosidentevil
I’d love to win because I’m always trying to find healthier ways to cook and almond flour sound delicious!
I tweeted too! http://twitter.com/blackcatkitchen/status/5781627889
I typically avoid gluten-free versions of traditional baked goods. As we all know, the “indulgence” usually isn’t much of an indulgence at all. It’s usually just a rice-based, less flavorful substitute for the fake food we shouldn’t be eating anyway. I love that the recipes in this cookbook are truely whole foods focused, with real ingredients and real flavor. I can’t wait to try more!
i would love to win this cookbook so i can have more GF recipes to make!
I would love to win it because I’ve never cooked with almond flour!
I just tweeted too 🙂
This is a great giveaway! Thanks!
Oh, good grief…I need to make some of those smooshable sandwich cookies, pronto. They look scrumptious!
We are newly gluten-free and I’d love a copy of this book to make treats for my kiddos. Thanks for offering such a great giveaway!
We try not to eat many processed grains or sugars, but sometimes you need something sweet! The picture of the apple raisin crisp is perfection!
I want to win this so I can come up with recipes for my mom.
tweeted: http://twitter.com/shopgurl/status/5782791298
My holistic health counselor RAVES about Elana! My daughter Jade has terrible allergies and we have decided to take her off dairy and wheat…and if we win this cookbook she is going to be so excited that we can actually make cookies she can eat!
I shared an email with this link with family members that Jade lives with as well so we can all be on board to create a positive lifestyle change!
my best friend was just diagnosed with a wheat allergy. I would love to be able to bake for him with this book.
It sounds like a great cookbook. I try to limit my gluten intake and this would be a great way to do it!
we’re eating gluten free, this would really be a great help
My home has been gluten free for the past 8 years. My husband found out he had celiacs 8 years ago. We are always looking for new and interesting gluten free cook books and this one looks great.
Looks like an interesting book! I’d love to check it out. Thanks for the giveaway!
The food in this book looks absolutely amazing and delicious!
Have been meaning to check out this cookbook!!! I bet there is a nice galette recipe? Thanks for the entry to the giveaway!
Since sadly having to give up wheat, I am always looking for inspiration. The Quiche on the front alone was enough to make me want to look into that book. Your creations from the book sound super yummy. I would love to win that book to try them myself.
It looks like it has great recipes. I would love to win it because I would love to serve my family healthy dishes.
A fantastic gift to celebrate one month down, rest of gluten free life to go and so far so good!
yummy recipes:)
For a long time I thought I had celiac disease, and got pretty sick of trying to make gluten-free treats with all the crazy chemicals and binders, and millions of types of flour in every recipe. I have since discovered I don’t have celiac, but I still try to eat pretty gluten (and refined grain) free and would love the chance to try some almond flour based recipes. Almonds are so good for you!
Almost a year ago, I was diagnosed with gluten-intolerance (celiac). I have been having a hard time finding non-health food that I can eat. I really need to learn how to bake and save money. The gluten-free foods at the health food are very expensive.
Thank you for the chance to do my own baking and save money. Thank you.
I’d love to win because I’m just finding out about these alternate flours, and I think it’s fabulous! I’ve been wondering if I’m allergic to gluten, so now is a perfect time to test it out with this recipe book!
I’m looking for some new and different gluten free recipes 🙂
oh pick me
pick me
pick me
i love love love baking and this cookbook would be loved and used in my gluten free home. the almond flour goodies would be so appreciated by my two celiac kids. if I don’t win, can I have a copy for fun?
I’d love this book! I recently was diagnosed with a GI disease that has left me unable to eat grains, dairy, soy, or corn.
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