These vegan, gluten-free maple chestnut cookies are delicious sweet little bites that are secretly healthy. A great addition to your Holiday cookie plate, or find any excuse.
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There’s something about this time of year that reminds me I have chestnut flour in my cupboard. It’s not exactly something you use on a regular basis, if at all in fact, so it’s easily forgotten. But Christmas time brings back memories for me of roasted chestnuts both at home and from street stalls.
They’re by far one of my favorite winter snacks, though I don’t have them often. Since Christmas also means cookies for many, it wasn’t a difficult jump to make these maple chestnut cookies. Naturally gluten-free, they’re delicious little bites that are secretly pretty healthy.
Using chestnut flour
I first got chestnut flour when I made mince pies a couple years ago, thinking it would be a great taste to add to the gluten-free pastry mix, which it was. I then made some chestnut pancakes, which were really tasty, and used some in chestnut and pear cupcakes, also yummy. Chestnut flour has a mild, gently nutty flavor that adds a smooth texture to what you use it in, but it’s not something that works in everything. It’s not quite as flexible as other gluten-free flours, I think partly the flavor and it can become heavy.
Using chestnut flour to make chestnut cookies, however, is something I wonder why I didn’t do it before. These maple chestnut cookies aren’t exactly big, and they are best not to be any bigger as they may crumble, but they are tasty little bites of deliciousness.
My eldest son, in his increasing scepticism of lots of things, happily dug in and loved them. I suspect the maple flavor helps as he loves everything maple syrup. They’re soft, but not gooey, and have a delicious gentle nuttiness, as you might expect from the ingredients.
How to make maple chestnut cookies
These maple chestnut cookies are really easy to make as you simply mix everything together, press the mixture into flattened balls then bake.
Since they are made with chestnut flour, they’re naturally gluten-free. The only sweetener is maple syrup, flax meal is the binder along with just a little coconut oil. In other words these are pretty healthy, and vegan too. But given that delicious maple flavor and smoothness from the chestnut, you’d never know.
The flavors in these maple chestnut cookies are simple but delicious. The maple flavor really comes through and the chestnut flour gives them a lovely smooth nuttiness. While some may find the flax seed meal a little too ‘bitty’ with everything else, personally I think it gives a nice contrasting texture. And my son definitely didn’t complain as he kept asking for more. These tasty little bites will definitely be made again soon.
Try these other gluten free cookies:
- Healthy apple oatmeal cookies
- Oatmeal pistachio cookies
- Spiced maple cookies
- Healthy cranberry apricot cookies
Plus get more snack recipes, sweet and savory, in the archives.
Tools to make these cookies (affiliate links)
I’d recommend using a Silicone Baking Mat on top of a Half Baking Sheet to make these.
See more of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline’s Cooking Amazon store.
Gluten-free maple chestnut cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chestnut flour 52g
- 2 tbsp flax seed meal
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp coconut oil melted and cooled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F/190C.
- Mix everything together in a bowl until well combined. Take tablespoonfuls of the mixture and press into slightly flattened balls.
- Place them on a lined baking sheet and bake for approx 10min until lightly brown.
Nutrition
Welcome to the 12 Days of Cookies – see today’s recipes:
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies from Cooking With Carlee
Classic American Sugar Cookies from A Day in the Life on the Farm
Double Chocolate Snowball Cookies from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
Gingerbread Man Cookie from The Freshman Cook
Maple Sugar Cookies from A Palatable Pastime
Nutty Triple Chocolate Cookies from Family Around the Table
Tangerine and Dark Chocolate Macaron from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
And don’t forget to check out all these other maply recipes for Foodie Extravaganza:
- Bangin’ Breakfast Potatoes from Rebekah of Making Miracles
- Maple Pecan Bars from Nichole of Cookaholic Wife
- Maple Sugar Cookies from Sue of Palatable Pastime
- Maple Walnut Vinaigrette from Tara of Tara’s Multicultural Table
- Momiji Tempura from Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Roasted Maple Glazed Carrots from Wendy of A Day in the Life of the Farm
- Rosemary Maple Glazed Turkey Breast from Lauren of Sew You Think You Can Cook
- The Back Forty Cocktail from Stacy of Food Lust People Love
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