gluten free by nature — casein, soy and entirely almost sugar free…

This cookie kind of reminds me of those little power bar bites.  It’s crunchy, a little sweet, a little salty and just the perfect bite size to pop in your mouth.  The original Cook’s Country cookie contest winning recipe (called Angel bites) called for butter. But, I replaced it with protein rich Sunbutter (made from sunflower seeds).  If you don’t tolerate rice, I reckon you could substitute puffed millet for the Crispy Brown Rice.  Bear in mind, however, the millet puffs are not as crunchy as the Erewhon cereal . And, in my honest opinion, the crunch is what gives this cookie so much charm. The original recipe did not have cinnamon. Yet, I thought it important to incorporate it as it helps to regulate blood sugar levels.

1/4 cup Sunbutter
1 1/2 cups pitted dates
1 tsp gluten free vanilla
1/4 cup agave
2 cups Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice cereal
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened coconut, shredded
1/4 tsp kosher salt

1. Place the dates, Sunbutter and agave nectar in a saucepan and heat only until the ingredients are slightly melted – about 3 minutes.
2. While that is heating, prepare the dry ingredients (cereal, coconut, cinnamon and salt) in a large bowl.
3. Take the date mixture off the heat, and transfer to a food processor. Pulse 3-5 times adding 2 tblsp filtered water. 
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture starts to get sticky. 
5. Place a tiny bit of grapeseed oil on your hands. Using your hands, roll into balls about the size of one tablespoon (one-half inch).
6. Place bites on a piece of wax paper or in mini cupcake liners.
7. Cover and chill until just before serving.  Makes 20-24 bites.

Tags: Erewhon, Sunbutter

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 at 3pm and is filed under cakes/cookies, snacks, vegan, vegetarian. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.