Grain-Free Strawberries and Cream Cookies Recipe

These are the perfect spring cookie! They are quite delicious and so pretty. I rarely use white chocolate but I love the flavor with strawberries, kind of like a strawberries-and-cream situation. But obviously white chocolate is full of sugar, so please swap in dark chocolate chips if that’s more your thing. Another fun option is to take candy-coated chocolates in pastel colors and stir those in. There are some dye-free options like the brand Unreal.Continue reading

Peppermint Chocolate Crinkle Cookies Recipe

It’s cookie season! I’ve actually never been to a cookie exchange, but I know many people participate in that tradition. Cookies are fun to decorate and to gift to others. At this time of year, just give me chocolate and peppermint all day. Unless it’s something gingerbread, and I would be just as happy. These crinkle cookies are easy, dairy-free (they call for oil and not butter) and they are the perfect Christmas cookie!

Why you’ll love this recipe

  • great for the holidays and cookie exchange parties;
  • they are diary-free which is not always easy to find in cookie recipes;
  • they stay fresh for several days;
  • easy to add some festive touches like a Hershey’s kiss or a piece of peppermint bark!

Ingredients

  • Cocoa powder – The difference between cocoa powder and cacao powder is the temperature used to process them. Cocoa powder is roasted at a high temperature and goes through a process to reduce its bitterness, which is why it’s mainly used in baked goods. Cacao powder on the other hand is made from raw cacao beans, so I prefer to use this in raw preparations, like a smoothie, but you can use it here if that’s what you have on hand. 
  • Sugar – I use organic unbleached cane sugar, but you can use coconut sugar if you’d like since the cocoa powder will make them dark. 
  • Olive oil – I love using olive oil in baked goods. Trust me, it won’t taste like a vinaigrette. 
  • Eggs – I use large eggs. 
  • Vanilla extract – use pure vanilla extract with no artificial flavors or additives for best flavor. You can also make your own. See this recipe. 
  • Peppermint extract – is really strong. A little goes a long way. I remember adding too much to a smoothie once and it was inedible!
  • Flour – I recommend using all-purpose, spelt flour, or a gluten-free flour blend. 
  • Baking powder – I prefer an aluminum-free baking powder. 
  • Powdered sugar – is pulverized white sugar. Also known as confectioner’s sugar, which give these cookies a nice powdery white coat. 

How to make it? 

  1. Whisk together the cocoa powder and cane sugar. Add the olive oil and whisk until it forms a thick paste. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Stir in the vanilla and peppermint extract.
  2. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the wet cocoa-sugar mixture until just combined and no dry flour is visible. Try not to overmix. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough until chilled, 4 hours to overnight.
  3. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. Line a half sheet pan with unbleached parchment paper (use two sheet pans if you plan to make smaller cookies). Scoop 1 Tablespoon size balls of dough for small cookies or 2 Tablespoon size balls of dough for larger cookies. The dough will be slightly sticky. I recommend using a swing arm ice cream scoop for this. You can place the cookie dough balls on the sheet pan in the meantime. Be careful as they may stick to the parchment.
  4. Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl. Take a ball of dough and roll it in the sugar, one at a time, coating well all sides and place back on the prepared baking sheet(s). Repeat with remaining cookie dough balls.
  5. Bake small cookies for 10-12 minutes and larger cookies for 12-14 minutes, until the center of each cookie is just starting to set. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will firm up slightly as they cool.

Tips

  • Make sure you plan for the extra time to chill the dough.
  • Cook them a little extra if you like a crisp cookie.
  • You can add a candy cane Hershey kiss pressed in the center of each cookie after they come out of the oven. 
  • Measure the mint extract over the counter and not the bowl in case you spill some.
  • Might be fun to mix in crushed freeze-dried strawberries with the powdered sugar for a more festive look. 

Substitutions

  • Cocoa powder – cacao powder. I haven’t tried it with carob powder, but it might work.
  • Cane sugar – coconut sugar or maple sugar
  • Flour – all-purpose, spelt flour, or gluten-free flour blend

 

Other chocolate desserts you may like:

*Peppermint Bark Shortbread

*Molten Chocolate Cakes

*Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes

*Nut-free Flourless Fallen Chocolate Cake

*Baked Chocolate Cake Doughnuts

*Whole Grain Chocolate Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache (I love adding peppermint to the ganache!)

*Fudgy Black Bean Brownies with Chocolate Ganache

 

 

If you give this recipe a try, snap a pic and tag @pamelasalzman so I can see your beautiful creations. I also really appreciate readers taking the time to leave a rating and review! Subscribe for free to my site for the latest recipes,  updates and things I’m loving lately.  If you enjoy this recipe, I taught it last year in my online class!  Give me an hour a month, and I’ll make you a better, healthier cook!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Peppermint Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Serves: 1 DOZEN 2½ INCH COOKIES OR 18 SMALLER COOKIES
 
Ingredients
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder or cacao powder
  • ¾ cup organic cane sugar or coconut sugar
  • ¼ cup unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • â…› teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, spelt flour or gluten-free flour blend
  • 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar (aka confectioner’s sugar), sifted if clumpy
Instructions
  1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and cane sugar. Add the olive oil and whisk until it forms a thick paste. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Stir in the vanilla and peppermint extract.
  2. In another medium-large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir the flour mix into the wet cocoa-sugar mixture until just combined and no dry flour is visible. Try not to overmix. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough until chilled, 4 hours to overnight.
  3. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a half sheet pan with unbleached parchment paper (use two sheet pans if you plan to make smaller cookies). Scoop 1 Tablespoon size balls of dough for small cookies or 2 Tablespoon size balls of dough for larger cookies. The dough will be slightly sticky. I recommend using a swing arm ice cream scoop for this. You can place the cookie dough balls on the sheet pan in the meantime. Be careful as they may stick to the parchment.
  4. Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl. Take a ball of dough and roll it in the sugar, one at a time, coating well all sides and place back on the prepared baking sheet(s). Repeat with remaining cookie dough balls.
  5. Bake small cookies for 10-12 minutes and larger cookies for 12-14 minutes, until the center of each cookie is just starting to set. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will firm up slightly as they cool.
Notes
You can add a candy cane Hershey kiss pressed in the center of each cookie after they come out of the oven.
Might be fun to mix crushed freeze-dried strawberries with the powdered sugar for a more festive look.

 

Flag Cookie Recipe

I have posted a few easy ideas for July 4th celebrations on Instagram already, and will post a few more!  None of them needs a recipe, but this giant flag cookie I thought could benefit from a few instructions.  I think you know me well enough that I like to have fun, be in the spirit of a holiday, but without going overboard or creating too much work for myself.  Who is with me??:)Continue reading

Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies Recipe

Photography by Victoria Wall Harris

I’m all set for Super Bowl Sunday, so I am skipping ahead to Valentine’s Day.  I really want to pull together a special dinner for my family.  I may take out some items to support our local restaurants which have just reopened in my area, after months of a total closure.  And then make a special meal at home.  A little of both sounds like the plan.Continue reading

Peppermint Bark Shortbread Recipe

Photography by Victoria Wall Harris

The simplest recipes are always the most popular.  I need to remember this when I am creating and sharing with you and my students.  It’s cookie season and although I don’t know how many cookie swaps will happen, or maybe they’ll happen without people getting together physically, I know you will all appreciate the ease and simplicity of this Peppermint Bark Shortbread recipe!Continue reading

Vegan Cranberry-Orange Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

I have made these cookies many times, but I have only taught this recipe once.  They are a tweak of one of my most popular recipes ever, Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.  There’s a funny story behind this version of the recipe.  Several years ago, I arrived to teach a class at a private home in Santa Monica. As I approached the front door, I could smell wood burning.  The home owners frantically ushered me into the house and revealed that the power was out in the whole neighborhood and there’s was no knowing when it would be restored.  Yikes!  How does one teach a cooking class without an oven or appliances???  Since they had seen me make pizzas in my parents’ wood burning pizza oven, they figured they would get theirs up and running so that I could cook the class recipes in it.  Well, that would have been fine except a wood burning oven doesn’t fit that much stuff.  I was able to figure out how to cook most of the menu, but these cookies were not going to get baked.  The good news was that the cookies were vegan so the dough was edible raw!  We all channeled our inner child and ate the delicious dough out of the bowl!Continue reading

St. Patrick’s Day Green Breakfast Cookies Recipe

I hope I’m squeezing in this recipe in time for your St. Patrick’s Day baking!  I know how much fun it is to surprise the kiddos with green treats on St. Patrick’s Day.  I have had amazing feedback from the “green” recipes I have posted in the past.  If you’re new here, you must check out these green muffins, this vegan mint chip smoothie, green pancakes, and this matcha chia pudding parfait. If you’re looking for something savory, I always make this vegan split pea and barley soup with whole wheat Irish soda bread.  My family loves it so much, I make it often in the colder months.Continue reading

Whole-Grain Chocolate Chip Cookie Skillet Cake Recipe

Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie Cake | Pamela Salzman

Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie Cake | Pamela Salzman

Let me warn you in advance that this skillet cookie has “dangerous” written all over it.  Yes, it contains whole wheat flour (or whatever GF flour blend you want, for that matter.) Sure it’s dairy-free. No refined sugar, either. But I taught this recipe at least 20 times during the month of February and into March and I could never resist a piece after each class.  Moreover, the scene was always the same every time: normally composed and refined women, instead inhaling and quite frankly moaning while breaking off hunks of this oversized cookie standing over the skillet.

Continue reading