I am not a “baker” by nature — although I can appreciate the poetry in a well-composed sweet.

I prefer improvisation to repetition, prefer free-flying ingredients to carefully measured cups. I’m impatient and easily frustrated. My creative brain wants to move on to the next project and just be done with the one at hand. The process of testing baked things over and over drives me up the wall.

This does not allay my desire — no, NEED — for cookies.

When you need a cookie, there is nothing else on the planet that will do.

And sometimes (of all the cookies in the world) all that will do is an oatmeal raisin cookie loaded with cacao nibs, scented subtly with cardamom and cinnamon.

If you’re here, I’m assuming you get that.

This is when I turn to my stack of beloved cookbooks, scouring for recipes I can trust.

Whenever I bake, I focus on alternative whole grains, low glycemic sweeteners and real food ingredients. And I typically go dairy-free (although I use ghee or goat yogurt occasionally). So it’s hard for me to find recipes that fit all of my criteria and don’t require me to do some tweaking.

These teff cookies are adapted from a favorite recipe of mine by Alanna of The Bojon Gourmet. The original recipe (“Teff Oatmeal Cookies with Whiskey Currents”) appears in her book Alternative Baker. I’ve learned a lot about gluten free baking from Alanna over the years, both from her brilliant blog and her book, which holds a place of honor on the most-referenced-cookbooks shelf in my kitchen.

I took loads of liberties in putting together my dairy free version of these cookies — using coconut oil instead of butter, subbing out coconut sugar for cane sugar and subbing out chickpea flour for some of the teff flour. I also chose to make my version a little more basic, using raisins instead of boozy currants. And I chose to add crunchy cacao nibs instead of nuts.

The chocolatey bitterness of the nibs complements the buttery-sweetness of the teff oatmeal raisin cookies perfectly.

So now, perhaps, you’re wondering why teff?

Teff is very chocolatey, even malty. It’s fantastic in baked goods that land in the caramelized, chocolatey, nutty, boozy or warmly spiced arenas of flavor. It’s a natural pair for desserts like brownies and oatmeal cookies. I think it adds a subtle complexity to these cookies.

Teff is also very high in iron, protein, calcium, manganese and is just generally an awesome thing to include in your diet. And now you can eat it in cookie form!

And these cookies only require 1 bowl and they whip up in 25 minutes!

Since they’re made with wholesome (even healthy!) ingredients I can eat half a pan and not feel like I’m going to die! Actually, I feel more like I could go run a marathon!

I went to the gym like an hour after I ate five of these and had so much energy I was practically hopping from the elliptical to the… workout machine… thingies. Yeah, I don’t know the name of any of the machines in the gym. TRICEPS PRESSIE THINGY! BUTT TONER SQUEEZER MACHINE! BOOB TUNER UPPER!

Anywaaayyyyyyy hope you enjoy this recipe!

P.s. The cookies look very dark because I used brown teff flour and coconut sugar, which is also quite dark. If you want a lighter colored cookie you could use ivory teff flour.

P.p.s. That "cannabis / opium den" candle is from a Virginia company called Na Nin and it has the most lovely, citrusy-sweet smell. Nothing illegal about that bad-boy.

P.p.p.s. That drink is something I've been calling "myco-milk" and it's simply blended coconut butter, cashew butter, reishi mushroom powder, vanilla, honey and hot water / steeped tea of choice. It's very soothing and really nice paired with these cookies.

Teff Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with Cacao Nibs (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

Created by Renee on January 30, 2017

NOTE: All of the flours should be poured into your dry cup measures, not scooped or packed. If you are looking to translate these to be vegan, sub the egg for 1 chia egg (1 tbsp chia + 2 tbsp water) + 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar. Vegan cookies will be more fragile and won’t spread as...

Ingredients

8 tablespoons virgin coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup coconut sugar + 2 tablespoons
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup teff flour
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup cacao nibs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted coconut oil, coconut sugar, egg and vanilla extract.
Add the teff, chickpea flour, tapioca flour, sea salt, baking soda, cardamom and cinnamon to the bowl and stir everything together until smooth and glossy. Stir in the oats, raisins and cacao nibs. If the dough is very wet and melty, you can set it in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill briefly (don’t leave it in there for too long or the coconut oil in the batter will harden).
Scoop out tablespoon sized rounds of dough onto the baking sheets, spaced 2-3 inches apart. Bake the cookies one pan at a time for a total of 10 minutes each. They’re done when the edges are set and the tops are still soft (these cookies firm up as they cool). Set the baked cookies on the countertop to cool in the pan for around 15 minutes — the tops will set and the edges will become crisp. Then dig in!
Best eaten on the day they’re baked.