Apple Pie Cookies

This recipe is an easy, fun recipe that everyone loves. No mixer is needed, but a food processor is a must. The cookies themselves are slightly sweet and the glaze adds that extra bit of sweetness.

I make it a rule not to use processed products (white flour, white sugar etc.) but I believe in moderation. In this recipe the best thing for the glaze was powdered sugar, so I didn't want to give that up.

If you are eliminating white sugar completely you can use a spice grinder to grind your preferred sugar to powder (organic cane sugar would work) or add another tablespoon of sugar to the cookies and forgo the glaze altogether.

Ingredients

1⅓ cup oats

¾ cup almond flour

2 tablespoons maple syrup (can use

honey as well)

2½ tablespoons coconut sugar

1½ teaspoons of cinnamon

¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon of ground cardamom

A pinch of cloves

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ an apple finely grated

¼ cup apple sauce

1 large egg

¼ cup chopped walnuts, almonds,

pecans or raisins (optional)

For the glaze

3½ tbsp powdered sugar

1 tbsp maple syrup

½ tsp cinnamon

A few drops cold water

A few chopped nuts (optional) 

Method

1. Pulse the oats in the bowl of a food processor with the blade attachment until they form a flour. Tip into a bowl and set aside. Photo A

2. Add the almond flour to the food processor and process for 3 minutes, pausing to scrape the sides when necessary. It should look and feel a bit like cookie dough. Add the maple syrup and continue processing for another 5 minutes.

3. In the meantime stir the sugar, spices and baking powder into the oat flour. Set aside. Peel and core the ½ apple and grate it very finely. Set aside as well.

4. Once ready, add the apple sauce to the almond mixture and process until combined. Add the egg and process again until combined. Stir the wet ingredients into the oat flour mixture and fold in the grated apple and nuts, if using. Photo B

5. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and drop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter on it. Optional: use your thumb to create a slight indentation in the cookie, it keeps the glaze in the center.

6. Bake the cookies on the middle rack for 13-15 minutes or until set and slightly browning. Cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Photo C

7. To make the glaze, stir all ingredients together except for the nuts. Thinly brush on the cookies (when they have completely cooled) and sprinkle with a few chopped nuts if you like. Photo D

Nitzan's notes

■ When processing the oats, it's OK if they don't turn into a completely fine flour. Partly coarse is fine.

■ It is important to allow the cookies to rest on the cookie sheet for five minutes after baking, or they will stick to the parchment paper. After that, peel them off the paper carefully and place them on a rack to cool completely before glazing.

■ The glaze semi-dries, but doesn't get very hard. I recommend you only glaze the cookies you are planning on eating within a day or two and don't stack them on top of each other. Unglazed cookies keep in an airtight container.