Milk & Cookies

I spent the last two weeks or so experimenting with Gluten-Free recipes. I love wheat, but I thought it'd be fun to give a few other whole grains a try. First I made pizza dough, which I will admit went pretty well, but it's not quite ready for the blog. And then, quite unexpectedly, I found myself making Gluten-Free cookies. Here's how it happened:

I was at the farmer's market, buying my favorite honey-roasted almond butter. I had $5 left and I decided to buy a couple scoops of raw almonds. And then I remembered that I'd been meaning to try making almond milk, so I asked the kid (literally pre-teen) who was manning the tent until his parents returned, "Do you know how to make almond milk?" He quickly replied, "One cup almonds, two cups water, blend until milky and strain." Done. I just had to pick up some cheese cloth at whole foods, and I also grabbed a few dried dates and figs, and then I was on my way home to make milk.

Almond Milk:
4 cups raw almonds (soaked in water overnight)
8 cups water
4-5 pitted dates or  dried black mission figs ( I went half and half)
1-2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Equipment:
Blender/Food processor
Cheese Cloth
Hand Held Strainer
Pitcher 
1 Cheese cloth

Soak almonds in water overnight and then strain. Add 1 cup of almonds, 2 cups of water, 1 date or fig, 1/2 tsp of vanilla, and a few dashes of cinnamon to a blender or food processor. Blend until finely pureed and milky. Place a hand-held strainer over a bowl or pitcher and line with cheese cloth.

Pour almond mixture over the cheese cloth and when most of the liquid has drained, rinse and twist the cloth with your hands to extract as much liquid as possible.*Save the sweet almond paste that is left over and place in the refrigerator. Repeat until all the almonds have been milked and your pitcher is full. Add more cinnamon or vanilla to taste.

This was surprisingly easy and it's extremely rewarding. I felt sooo good about pouring that milk over my cereal in the morning. And for this reason, I have decided to pair this recipe with a poem about bliss, the feeling I got when I poured this bowl of cereal (Poem featured at end of entry).

 And so, suddenly blessed with a large quantity of fresh almond meal, i began looking for a recipes. I found a good one in Gwyneth Paltrow's 'my father's daughter'. It's actually her mother, Blythe Danner's, recipe (and I love Blythe so it was settled). Coincidentally, my best friend Hayley had also just sent me her recipe for gluten-free thumbprint cookies.

The two recipes are quite similar, so based on my tastes, and what I had in the kitchen, I came up with the following recipe, to me it is the best of both worlds.:

4 cups quinoa flour
3 cups fresh almond meal
1 cup melted coconut oil
3/4 cup maple syrup
zest of one lemon
1 tsp salt
tiny pinch of baking soda
1 jar of jam/preserves (I used Quince Jam)

Combine ingredients (except for the jam) until a dough is formed. Form into tablespoonful balls and space evenly on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Using your thumb or index finger, make an indent in each cookie and fill with a small spoonful of jam. (At this point if you put the cookies in the fridge for about 30 min. they will hold their shape better). Bake for 20 minutes or until slightly golden.

I could not get my hands off these guys; And i didn't feel one shred of guilt. Also, I brought a batch to the yogi potluck to celebrate the completion of teacher training (more bliss). When I shared this recipe with my sister, she commented that I could survive the apocalypse.


Et, voila!  Milk and cookies from one $5 scoop of almonds!

 Song of The Soul - from 'Light on Yoga,' by B.K.S. Iyengar

I am neither ego nor reason, I am neither mind nor thought,
I cannot be hard nor cast into words, nor by smell nor sight ever caught:
In light and wind I am not found, nor yet in earth and sky -
Consciousness and joy incarnate, Bliss of the Blissful am I.

I have no name, I have no life, I breathe no vital air,
No elements have moulded me, no bodily sheath is my lair:
I have no speech, no hands and feet, nor means of evolution -
Consciousness and joy am I, and Bliss in dissolution.

I cast aside hatred and passion, I conquered delusion and greed;
No touch of pride caressed me, so envy never did breed:
Beyond all faiths, past reach of wealth, past freedom, past desire,
Consciousness and joy am I, and Bliss is my attire.

Virtue and vice, or pleasure and pain are not my heritage,
Nor sacred texts, nor offerings, nor prayer, nor pilgrimage:
I am neither food, nor eating, nor yet the eater am I -
Consciousness and joy incarnate, Bliss of the Blissful am I.

I have no misgiving of death, no chasms of race divide me,
No parent ever called me child, no bond of birth ever tied me:
I am neither disciple nor master, I have no kin, no friend -
Consciousness and joy am I, and merging in Bliss is my end.

Neither knowable, knowledge, nor knower am I, formless is my form,
I dwell within the senses but they are not my home:
Ever serenely balanced, I am neither free nor bound -
Consciousness and joy am I, and Bliss is where I am found.