Warrior Beetle: Quinoa Cookies (yes, you SHOULD eat these)

Ok so FIRST. BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE IS SAID. I must share the email I got from Uncle Thor this morning. It's pretty much the most happy-making email in the entire universe (Asgard and Yggdrasil included.) It is thus:

Subject: Breakfast
Wow! Heated up just for 10 seconds in the micro with a little melted vanilla ice cream on top.

Thank you, thank you.

Love Thor

It was sent at 7.40 am (which means he'd been up since 5, done his morning yoga in the loft, showered, made coffee, and prepared AND eaten the above breakfast and still had 20 minutes till 8 o'clock. My family = hardcore.)

Point being, dear reader, Birthday Brownies were a success. I feel better. Less horrible. I won't be able to look at maple syrup for a while without thinking of "the buttercream that was supposed to be but wasn't" but hopefully that will pass by August or so.

ANYWAY

Mum brought home a new cookbook a few weeks ago and it's been sitting on one of the dining room tables. The result of this is that every third time or so I walk by I stop and flick through the pages. Gradually the binding has filled up with little torn scraps of paper, as I insert little "make this at some point" markers, and Tuesday I decided it was time. The cookbook in question is Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours by Kim Boyce (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2010) and it is a.) photographed beautifully and b.) full of amazing recipes that use totally under-appreciated grains. (Yo, I've been eating Amaranth graham crackers for YEARS. They are DELICIOUS.)

Since I was unfortunately bereft of Amaranth, Kamut, and Buckwheat flours though, (only until Saturday, you guys, don't worry I'll be ok) I decided to make a head start on the Quinoa chapter. (Also, the box of Quinoa Flakes sitting on the top shelf of the pantry cupboard was mocking me more than it normally does. Also, I heart Quinoa.)

And so I present

QUINOA COOKIES

There are lots of reasons why I love Quinoa. It's delicious, first and foremost, which tends to be my driving factor, but it's also crazy good for you. Super high in protein, iron, calcium, yadda yadda you know the drill. And if you are one of those gluten free people then the wonderful world I'm about to share is wide open to you.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons molasses (not blackstrap)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup quinoa flakes + 3/4 cup for rolling

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and sugar and mix on low until just blended, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for about a minute after each addition. Stir in molasses and vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix on low until flour is barely combined. Add oats and one cup of quinoa flakes mixing until just combined. Don't be concerned if the dough seems crumbly, it will come together when you form it into balls. Place remaining 3/4 cup quinoa flakes in shallow bowl. Form dough into balls about 3 tablespoons in size and roll in flakes to cover them completely. Place balls in baking sheet about 3 inches apart. Bake for about 5-18 minutes, until cookies have spread, cracked and are an even golden brown. Let cool on baking sheet.

BEETLE NOTES

See above re: I heart quinoa. They smelled so awesome and nutty and wholesome. And they are beautiful cookies. Also Mum is in love with them. When I packaged them up for the Lovely Librarians the other day and then picked her up at work, she saw the Beetle Bakery bags and said "You left some for me, right? How many did you give them? How many are still at home?"

Dough balls giving the steel-cut oats the ultimate freeze out.
Stink-eyed, curled-lip, eye-rolled freeze out.

So I used all whole wheat flour (no quinoa flour in the house, sniff and also I default to whole wheat flour unless it's improper to use it (eg drop sponges . . . ) I also didn't roll them in quinoa flakes for the very simple and tragic reason that I only had a measured cup (you guys I am such a loser. healthy baking FAIL.) and that all went in the batter.

I had the idea to roll them not in rolled oats but in steel-cut oats which I thought would retain the sought-after nuttiness and also be pretty. However, when I formed the cookie dough balls and rolled them in the prepared shallow dish . . . nothing happened. That is, the cookie dough ball rolled around, but the steel-cut oats ignored it on the level of a cafeteria table of cheerleaders ignoring the second clarinet player in the school band. The one with acne and headgear. So that was a bust. Left with no options, I just left them un-rolled and decided that next time I would do it and they'd just have to shine on their own.

Behold the large amount of Nutmeg.

I also had no freshly grated nutmeg, and since you know my rule of always bump the spices I just threw in THREE TEASPOONS I KNOW I'M A REBEL of Nutmeg, figuring it would make up for its not being freshly grated.

The dough is pretty dry, like she says. You will have to hand form the balls. If you didn't know it already, this is actually incredibly therapeutic and calming.

Now. Regarding the dough balls. I was under the impression that these cookies would be spreading as they cooked. Whether this was my oven, me, their own temporary contrariness, I don't know. But I will tell you, dear reader, that there was absolutely no spreading going on. They weren't even considering the idea of spreading. Nope. Not happening.

So, Beetle genius and part-time hillbilly cook that I am, at the halfway point of cooking I just grabbed a soup spoon and squished the little buggers into very pleasant, craggy-edged cookie shapes. Problem. SOLVED. Squishing them at 7 minutes meant that they were already gooey and soft, and so the squishing process didn't cause them to break apart or anything, they remained cohered with no issues.

Before going in the oven. Studiously retaining dough ball shape.

After being flattened. Note the craggy edges.

Next time I will pull them out a little before 18 minutes. They are a bit crunchy. Not a bad thing, but definitely a good cookie to be dipped in tea or coffee. (Incidentally, both methods have been tried and deemed successful since Tuesday night.) And because of that they pack beautifully so I can be all OCD and play Cookie-Tetris all I want.

Me winning Cookie-Tetris.

They do resemble peanut butter cookies in texture and taste (see above re: nuttiness) but I guess the best description is nuttiness without the sweetness. Or rather, nuttiness with an earthy undertone that peanut butter doesn't have. It's not usually used in sweet recipes, so be prepared for a cookie that definitely says "I am a health food." Quinoa is an acquired taste. But if you acquire it, your life is considerably more awesome than it was before. AND you'll probably live longer to enjoy it. So.

ALSO THANK YOU WIKIPEDIA because I just realised that 2013 is . . .

THE YEAR OF QUINOA YOU GUYS THIS IS SO EXCITING I LOVE IT IT EVEN HAS A LOGO LOOK: