Orange Date Cookies
I came up with these Orange Date Cookies because years ago at Christmas time, my Ciocia (basically my Grandma) made a delicious orange date cookie. It isn’t a recipe she makes all the time and I don’t remember her making it again, but I never forgot the flavour because it was SO good! I wanted to recreate this cookie myself, and these chewy and soft cookies are a dream. The orange flavour comes from orange zest and orange essence, and it pairs beautifully with the chewy date chunks.
This is a very simple recipe and it has a fairly low gluten content because the base is a mix of ground walnuts, oats, and a small amount of all-purpose flour. These cookies are also oil-free and they use aquafaba as the replacement for eggs. These orange date cookies are naturally sweetened with coconut sugar and maple syrup, and of course dates!
Orange Date Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups walnuts
- 1 cup oats
- 3/4 cup all purpose or light spelt flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup aquafaba
- 2 tbsp non-dairy milk unsweetened
- zest from 1 medium orange
- 1/2 tsp orange extract
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup pitted dates diced into small chunks
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper and set aside.
- Using a food processor, blend the walnuts and oats until it is fine, but not completely fine like a flour. Transfer the mixture to large a bowl.
- Add the the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and mix to combine. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the maple syrup, coconut sugar, aquafaba, milk, vanilla extract, orange extract, and orange zest until well combined.
- Add the liquid to the dry ingredient and mix them together. Fold in the chopped dates.
- Scoop around 1 tbsp of the dough and form them into cookies on the baking tray. Bake on the center rack of your oven for about 16 - 18 minutes until the bottoms are golden.
- Remove them from the oven and cool on a wire rack before serving.
For personal meal plans or nutrition advice from a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, you can contact me at kathyrhn@gmail.com
