Yes, I do a lot of baking. I go through quite a lot of all-purpose flour and granulated sugar, but I also love getting to experiment with various whole grains and less refined, natural sweeteners. Now, there’s a book devoted entirely to that latter category of baking. It’s Honey and Oats by Jennifer Katzinger, and I received a review copy. Every recipe in the book, which covers Scones and Muffins, Cookies and Bars, Quick Breads, Yeasted Breads and Crackers, Pies and Tarts, and Cakes and Frostings, is made with whole grain flours and sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, coconut palm sugar, and sucanat. I learned that minimally processed honey contains antioxidants and beneficial microbial properties; maple syrup contains manganese and zinc along with other trace minerals and vitamins; coconut palm sugar contains B vitamins and amino acids with minerals and enzymes that slow its absorption into the bloodstream making it lower on the glycemic index than other sweeteners; and sucanat, the least refined sweetener made from cane sugar, has iron, calcium, potassium, and vitamin B6 that remain after its minimal processing. I want to start using more of these in place of refined, granulated sugar, and this book makes it easy. As soon as our local, fresh figs appear this year, I’ll be turning back to the Fresh Fig Almond Scones made with buckwheat and spelt flours and honey. I also have the page marked for the Date Bars made with spelt and einkorn flours, oats, and coconut palm sugar. The Chocolate Pistachio Bars are also calling out to me, and there are instructions in the book for making Maple-Sweetened Chocolate to use on them. The Triple-Layer Chocolate Sour Cream Cake is made with barley flour and is sweetened with maple syrup, and the Honey Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Honey Frosting is a beauty as it’s shown with five layers but can also be baked in a Bundt pan.
I have a collection of little, animal shaped cutters that had been waiting patiently for far too long to be used, so I jumped at the chance to make the Animal Cookies. The dough is surprisingly easy to work with, and it doesn’t spread much while baking. It’s made with canola oil, maple syrup, almond butter, and vanilla extract. After mixing those ingredients, whole wheat pastry flour, cinnamon, sea salt, and baking soda were added. The dough was easily rolled on a floured surface and cut into shapes. I tested baking some of the cut cookies immediately and chilling some before baking. It was barely noticeable that the cookies that were baked immediately had spread just slightly more than those that were chilled first. They bake into crunchy, delightful, little cookies that keep well for several days. They’re sweet and nutty from the maple syrup and almond butter, and right away, they became an addictive snack.
There’s an art to eating animal cookies. You can start by biting off the head and work your way around the cookie to the legs. With these, we had a little fun trying guess what each animal was supposed to be. The cutters I have are cute, but a few of the shapes are a little difficult to identify. There are fish and ducks and what I think are bunnies. One shape I interpreted as a pony and another as a puppy. The kitty cat shape didn’t work so well as it baked into a blob, but the fox shape was fun since you can bite off the tail. Mostly, these cookies were a delight because of the flavors of maple, cinnamon, and almond butter. And, now I can’t wait to try more recipes with whole grains and natural sweeteners.
Animal Cookies
These cookies are rich sans the butter. The dough is soft, pliable, and easy for kids to roll out. Be sure to have enough flour on your work surface so you can lift the cut-out cookies.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl using an electric mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the oil, maple syrup, nut butter, and vanilla until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. In a separate medium bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. With the mixer on the lowest speed, slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until a soft dough is formed.
Roll the dough out on a well-floured work surface to a1⁄4-inch thickness. Using animal-shaped cutters, cut cookies and place them on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies are golden and firm to touch, 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies. Cool the cookies on the sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks or flattened paper bags to cool completely.
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