Ending the Year On a Sweet Note: Walnut Cookies with Chocolate

Months ago my sister sent me an email with a recipe for walnut macaroons. She wrote that they were deliciously addictive, and that I just had to try them.  I meant to make a batch right away but got busy and forgot about it.



With all the holiday baking, I ran out of a lot of ingredients in my pantry. I was all set to make my truffles when I realized I was out of hazelnuts.  I decided to make something with the only bag of nuts left on the shelf: walnuts.  I could have made the truffles using walnuts  but then I had an epiphany--I remembered my sister's email.  A few taps on the keyboard and I had it in front of me: the perfect walnut cookie recipe.  I can't leave well-enough alone, however, so I played around with some of the ingredients and altered her wonderful recipe into something that met my own preferences: reduced the sugar, added some brown rice syrup and coconut flour for texture.   These cookies were a huge hit with my family and friends. I'm sure that even my sister would approve if she could only fly over here and share some over coffee.





These cookies are so moist and rich tasting, it's hard to believe that they do not contain butter.  The orange zest works really well with the flavor of the ground walnuts.  A few chocolate chips in the center enhance these cookies and  make them even more memorable.  I had fun watching my seven year-old nibble his way around the cookie.  He carefully worked at isolating all three chocolate chips in the center to dedicate them for his very last bite without getting any of the melted chocolate on his hands--not an easy task!

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Walnut Cookies with Chocolate Chips (makes 36) 16 oz of walnut pieces, ground in the food processor 1/4 cup brown rice syrup 1/4 cup turbinado sugar Zest of one orange 1 large egg + 1/2 cup egg whites, beaten 1/4 cup coconut flour Dark chocolate chips Preheat oven to 350F Oil two cookie sheets and set aside Mix all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, together in a bowl until uniform Wet your hands slightly, and take a little under a tablespoon of the batter and roll it into a ball.  Set it on the prepared cookie sheet and continue this step until the batter is all gone.  Set the balls in rows about 1 1/2" apart from each other. Place three chocolate chips in the center of each one and gently push down to flatten slightly. Place the cookie sheets in the oven and bake for 18 minutes.  The bottoms of the cookies should be golden. Let cool on a wire rack.  Completely cooled cookies can be stored for a few days in an airtight container at room temperature.  Printable Recipe

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