Chia Seed Cookies with Dark Chocolate + Candied Ginger

Chia seed cookies with chocolate and ginger. Gluten free and vegan - the perfect healthy christmas cookie.

The Holidays have kind of crept up on me this year. When I was working in retail we were planning for the Christmas season in August, so by the time December rolled around we were already singing along to our favorite holiday playlists. But this year, all of a sudden there was snow on the ground and we were 2 weeks away from Christmas. I absolutely love christmas baking, pulling out recipes that you only use once a year that have been passed down from your grandparents. Recipes that my mom would make every year, make the house smell amazing and then store them in the freezer until we were allowed to enjoy them. Torture, but always worth the wait.

The Holidays are going be pretty special this year, my whole family is coming to France in the new year. So although the 25th may be a quiet day, I know that there will be lots of big laughs, yummy meals and sweet treats shared once everyone arrives. I made these cookies on a whim one day, and thought that they looked so festive that I wanted to share them with you all. I love anything ginger, and these cookies are loaded with ginger flavor, but combined with dark chocolate and a bit of sweetness it all balances out. Somewhat crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside – I can’t promise that they will last until Christmas, even if I put them in the freezer! May all of your holidays be filled with cookies!


 CHIA SEED COOKIES WITH DARK CHOCOLATE AND CANDIED GINGER

These cookies are the perfect little treat for the ginger lovers in your life. Wholesome, chocolaty and with the candied ginger they have just enough sparkle to make them worthy of your holiday cookie swap. Yields about 10 cookies. Cookie dough recipe adapted from here and some fun nutritional facts about chia seeds here :)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon chia seeds
3 tablespoons almond milk
1 cup rolled oats (gluten free if you are gluten sensitive)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup natural cane sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoons maple syrup
4 tablespoons coconut oil at room temperature
75g dark chocolate, chopped or chips
2 tablespoons candied ginger, thinly chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F / 175 C

Combine the chia seeds and the almond milk in a small bowl and set aside for at least 10 minutes

Blend the oats in a food processor until you have a coarse flour. Add in the baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt and pulse just to mix. Next add the ginger, vanilla, maple syrup, coconut oil and chia seed mixture and pulse until the dough forms a ball. Remove from the food processor and place between two sheets of parchment paper so you can easily roll it out without sticking (you could also place the dough in the fridge wrapped tightly in plastic wrap up to 24 hours). Roll the dough with a rolling pin until you have a rectangular shape about 1/2 inch think. Using a cookie cutter or the rim of a glass, cut out circles or any other shape and place on a parchment lined baking sheet

Bake in the oven for about 18-20 minutes until the cookies have puffed up a bit in middle and are  slightly brown on top

Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack

Once the cookies have cooled completely, melt the chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water. Be careful not to let the bottom of the pot touch the water or the chocolate won’t melt nicely, and stir often. Alternatively, you could melt the chocolate in the microwave at 20 second intervals, stirring well in between.

Dip the cooled cookies in the melted chocolate, about half way, and decorate with a few pieced of candied ginger

Let the chocolate harden (you can speed this up by placing in the fridge) and store the cookies in an air tight container or keep them in the freezer until they are ready to be enjoyed!


Let me in on your kitchen creations – tag your photos #happyheartedkitchen and share the love!

10 Comments

  • Reply
    marla
    December 16, 2012 at 2:27 pm

    Love this recipe! Will be linking back to this in my upcoming post :)

    • Reply
      Jodi Kay
      December 16, 2012 at 6:16 pm

      Love the 100 Holiday Cookies post- so happy I made the list :) Thanks Marla!

  • Reply
    Michelle @ Eat Move Balance
    December 16, 2012 at 5:34 pm

    This looks great! I can’t seem to find how much almond meal should be in the recipe. It’s mentioned in the directions, but not in the list. Do you mind letting me know? Thanks!

    • Reply
      Jodi Kay
      December 16, 2012 at 6:14 pm

      Whoops! Nice catch Michelle :) I had originally made the cookies with 1/4 cup almond meal and 3/4 cup oat flour – but then I made a second batch using only oats and liked it much better! So no almond meal is needed – I’ll take that out of the instructions. Sorry for the mix up! Enjoy :)

  • Reply
    elisabetta pendola
    December 19, 2012 at 8:16 pm

    lovely!

  • Reply
    Bonnie
    January 2, 2013 at 4:02 pm

    I’ve been playing around with these cookies a bit – including adding some ground almonds and reducing the sugar and adding Erythritol. They’re coming out wonderful! If I blog them I will link back to you. Thanks!

    • Reply
      Jodi Kay
      January 3, 2013 at 7:15 am

      That’s awesome Bonnie! I love playing around with new recipes too! If you end up with one variation that you love I would be thrilled if you shared it with me :) Happy New Year x

  • Reply
    Anonymous
    January 6, 2014 at 4:35 am

    These look fabulous. I work with two people, one is gluten free and the other vegan! glad i can make a recipe everyone can enjoy

  • Reply
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  • Reply
    Healthy Holiday Baking Tips
    December 13, 2018 at 12:45 pm

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