Almond Joy Bites (with a chocolate foot)

In need of a gluten and dairy-free cookie?  Need it asap?  Don't have a lot of time for detail and fuss?  I have you covered!  These little almond-y tasting bites are sweet and tender, chewy and delicious.  They are a bit more exotic with a chocolate foot, sprinkled with a bit of hemp seed hearts <3  You know those "keeper recipes" that you bring out when you need some oohs and ahhs?  Trust me, this little cookie should be a part of that treasured collection.

August has been pretty busy for me (and you too, I'm guessing).  It's a pleasure to eat cleanly with so many fresh options, especially vegetables and fruit grown locally.  Whether you cook light (i.e., steaming, sauteing) or prepare raw, summer produce is out of this world.  Crispy salads or grain bowls with charred vegetables, colorful roasted fruits, lean protein, and a sweep of whatever herbs you are growing are my ideas of daily happiness.

"But what about dessert?" you ask.  Great question!  What is better than stone fruits over bowls of
oh-so refreshing sorbet or ice cream after a frazzled day?  And the crumbles, crisps, and shortbreads covering dark berries finished with whipped cream dollop?  So yummy!  See?  I do understand the resistance to turning on your oven, but maybe you can deal with a 300º F temperature for just 20 minutes?  If so, keep on reading.  Almond Joy Bites to the rescue.  They are perfect scoopers for that vanilla frozen yogurt that's on your mind and in your frig.

Notes

1.  Before rolling the cookie dough between my hands, I gave the edge of the dough a dip in confectioner's sugar.  The rolling is a breeze, and the sticky-factor gone.

2.  I have made these a few times this month and decided to add the chocolate foot.  I microwaved dark chocolate chips in a glass bowl in small intervals (10-15 seconds), stirring after each interval to melt.  When the chips were mostly melted, I just stirred to melt the rest of the chocolate.

3.  Holding onto each cookie, I dipped halfway into the melted chocolate, let the excess drip off (helping it with a fork), and then placed it back on the baking tray to solidify.  If you need them sooner, place into the refrigerator to speed up the process.

Almond Joy Bites
(mentor recipe here)
Yield:  approx. 36

2 cups almond meal
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 large egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 cup dark chocolate chips (or semi-sweet, milk, etc.)
Hemp seed hearts (or other chopped nuts) for sprinkling, optional

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 300ºF.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
2.  Place the confectioner's sugar into a small bowl and set aside.
2.  In a large bowl, place the almond meal, sugar, and corn starch.
3.  In a second bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt until they are just shy of forming peaks but are quite foamy.  This took me less than 5 minutes.
4.  Whisk in the almond extract.
5.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until everything comes together.  Feel free to use your hands to knead the ingredients into a sticky dough.  Before proceeding, you may want to rinse your hands.
6.  With a spoon, grab about a tablespoon of the dough.  Before rolling into a ball, dip the edge into the confectioner's sugar.  Then start rolling.  Smooth and easy!
7.  Place rolled cookie onto tray and repeat with the rest of the dough.  I was able to make about 3 dozen and used only one large baking sheet.  They do not spread.

8.  Bake for 20 minutes until the tops are cracked and dry.  Remove from oven.
9.  Cool on baking sheet.

10. Remove from baking sheet and enjoy.  Store leftovers in an airtight container or in ziplock bags.
11. If adding a chocolate foot, see notes above.

12.  Layer leftovers in an airtight container between sheets of parchment.

13.  Now that's how to make a hot summer a bit more bearable :)

Fave dei Morti Cookies

There's a lovely story behind these small cookies, sometimes referred to as little cakes.  Though the translation, Beans of the Dead, sounds a bit macabre, these cookies are wonderful treats with coffee, tea, or a dessert wine.  The liturgical story explaining the history of these treats balances remembering past lives with the promise of future relationships.  The cookies are eaten on November 2, or All Soul's Day.

I have to say that I looked twice at this recipe before deciding to try it.  Perhaps I should have looked one more time (see below).  Not anywhere near renouncing my love of sweets, I was nevertheless piqued by how healthy-on-paper these little 'beans of the dead' looked.  Hardly any butter (replaced by nut fat, I'm sure), the substantial quantity of almond meal (this has to be more nutritious than using all white flour), and the relatively low load of sugar (hmmm...likely supplemented by the sugar in the shot of rum)... for a yield of 5 dozen cookies?  Remarkable!

I made these in October and was pleasantly surprised at how lovely they turned out.  They were delicately soft and almond-y.  Pictures were taken, uploaded, and an All Soul's Day posting was my goal.  But there was something about the taste and coloring of the cookies that was missing.

Carefully scanning the recipe once more, I knew that I had left out the cinnamon!  It's taken me until now to remake the cookies, retake additional pics, and confess.  I give you both:  faded and flushed.

Notes

I used a mixer to combine all the ingredients, but I am sure you could use a wooden spoon and/or spatula to mix everything together.  

I melted the butter on my first making and softened the butter the second time.  No difference!

I chilled (30 minutes or so)  the dough on both occasions before rolling because I didn't have the time to bake off.  The mentor recipe does not say to do this.

The mentor recipe suggests adding a very little bit of water if the dough is crumbly.  This never happened with my two productions, but it's good to know.

The dough is sticky, but surprisingly the rolling is not affected.   Hand-rolling goes quickly. 

The dough does not spread much while baking, so spacing can be an inch between cookies.

Fave dei Morti Cookies

Mentor Recipe

7 ounces (200 grams) almond meal

3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 medium-large egg

2 tablespoons butter, softened or melted

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 shot rum (1.5 oz. or 45 ml)

Directions

1.  In a mixer, combine all the ingredients until the dough has gathered together fully.

2.  Wrap dough in saran and chill for 30 minutes or so.

3.  Hand roll walnut-sized pieces of dough into balls and place on parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Each ball was about 3/4 - 1 inch in diameter.

4.  Use a spoon or your finger to dimple each cookie.  Notice that the cookies on the left are paler.  That's because they had no cinnamon!  The ones on the left are the corrected batch.

5.  Bake at 350º F for 10-15 minutes or until dry to the touch and a bit golden.  Turn sheet 1/2 way around midway through the baking.  Again, left without cinnamon.  Right with cinnamon.

6.  Once cooled, place into ziplock bags for air tight storage.  These freeze well too!