Gluten-Free Coffee Almond Cookies

This recipe for gluten-free coffee almond cookies is ridiculously easy, and the results are ridiculously good.

These are made with no flour at all, so they don’t contain gluten (or empty calories, for that matter). Ground almonds take the place of the flour, so they’ve got lots of nutrients and fiber. They are also quite low in carbohydrates, and very low in fat.

Given that they’re pretty good for you, I was almost surprised by how tasty they are! My kids loved them, too. These gluten-free gems make a great light dessert or snack; I venture to say a couple of these could even pass for breakfast…

This recipe makes 15-30 cookies, depending on how big you make them.

Coffee Almond Gluten-Free Cookies
adapted from the recipe for Hazelnut Espresso Cookies in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Clean Eating magazine

Ingredients:

*2 cups almonds or almond flour
*1 Tb. freeze-dried regular or decaf organic coffee (I use Mount Hagen brand) or use espresso powder
*3/4 cup organic sugar
*1/2 tsp. Himalayan or sea salt
*4 large egg whites
*1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
*1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat. Process almonds, coffee, sugar, and salt in a high speed blender or food processor until fine. Transfer to a mixing bowl. If using almond flour, you can skip the blender/food processor and mix the ingredients right in your bowl.

Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff.

Fold nut mixture into the egg whites. Add the vanilla and cinnamon and mix just until blended.

Spoon the batter onto your cookie sheets. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

This healthy cookie recipe is linked to Slight Indulgent Tuesdays. Head over to Amy Green’s blog, Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, to see the other submissions!