They say it’s all about the little things so I say, make a toast to Pret coffees on the house, pack your
wardrobe with pretty summer dresses, buy Lego notebooks for your friends, read
Italian patisserie recipe books until you feel the urge to bake enough crostata to feed an army, and if all
this is still not enough to fill the hole in your heart, then go fill your
stomach (it works just as well). May I suggest that you make chocolatey
hazelnutty chestnut flour cookies that are so delicious and that you can share
with the whole universe as they are vegan and gluten-free and no Oreo-manufacturing
Scottish cows were harmed in the process.
At your service.
WHITE CHOCOLATE CHESTNUT THUMBPRINT COOKIES
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
100ml (6 tablespoons) water
80g (1 cup) chestnut flour
100g (1 cup) ground hazelnuts
60g (1/2 cup) rice flour
1 ½ tablespoons cornflour
1 teaspoon GF baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
70g (1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon) coconut oil
90ml (1/3 cup) agave syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
80g (2/3 cup) chopped hazelnuts
White chocolate filling:
50g (3 tablespoons) chopped vegan white
chocolate
35ml (2 tablespoons) soya cream or other
non-dairy cream
In a small bowl, mix together ground
flaxseed and water and leave aside to set. In a separate bowl, combine chestnut
flour, ground hazelnuts, rice flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt. In
another bowl mix together coconut oil, agave syrup and the flaxseed mixture
once set. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well until combined.
Place dough in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F) and line
two cookie trays with parchment paper. Once the dough has chilled, place the
chopped hazelnuts in a small bowl. Roll about a tablespoon of dough into a
ball, then dip and roll around in the hazelnuts, slightly pressing them into
the dough. Place on the cookie trays slightly apart, then using your thumb
press lightly into the middle of each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes or until the
cookies turn golden brown and hold shape. Transfer to a cooling rack and in the
meantime prepare the filling.
Place the soya cream on medium
heat until it starts simmering, then remove from the heat, add the white
chocolate and stir until melted and well combined.
Once the filling has cooled but is not yet
setting and the cookies are completely cool, scoop or pipe to fill each cookie
indentation. Leave to set then fill your mouth with cookies.
