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Dessert
Gluten-Free Sunflower Puffs
MAKES 24 PUFFS
These tiny allergy-friendly cookies (no gluten, dairy, egg, soy or nuts!) are a melt-in-your-mouth treat. Flaky with a delicious, nutty-like taste, they contain sunflower seeds and nutrient-rich, gluten-free flours made from whole grains. They’re a breeze to make and certain to become a family favorite. Double the recipe for a crowd.
1 cup raw sunflower seeds or nuts*
¼ cup amaranth flour
¼ cup millet flour
¼ cup brown rice flour
¼ cup potato starch (not potato flour)
½ cup butter, organic palm oil or dairy-free margarine of choice
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Measure sunflower seeds and grind to a flour in a clean coffee grinder or spice grinder.
3. In a bowl, combine sunflower-seed flour, other flours and potato starch. Set aside.
4. In another bowl, cream butter, sugars and vanilla and beat a few minutes until fluffy. Add dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
5. Form into a large ball and, one at a time, pinch off enough dough to form 1-inch diameter balls. Arrange on prepared cookie sheet, giving balls room to spread a little.
6. Place in preheated oven on middle rack and bake 25 minutes or until cookies start to brown.
7. Remove cookies from oven and cool slightly. Then roll in confectioners’ sugar, if desired. Alternatively, sprinkle with cocoa or gluten-free powdered chocolate cocoa mix.
Each cookie contains 94 calories, 8g total fat, 2g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 0mg cholesterol, 1mg sodium, 6g carbohydrates, 1g fiber, 2g protein.
*TIP If nuts are tolerated, raw nuts can be substituted for the sunflower seeds. The number of cookies varies depending on how nuts are measured; you want about 1 cup nut “flour” after grinding. If dough does not form into a ball, add a little more oil.
Recipe by Madalene Rhyand, director of Living Without’s test kitchen.
Comments (6)
It sounds good
Posted by: Unknown | February 8, 2012 9:23 PM Report this comment
I made this recipe with substitutions for sunflower seeds, and for amaranth and millet flours I didn't have. I used almond meal, and quinioa and tapioca flour. Perhaps due to the substitutions, my results are not very good and I won't try this recipe again. Not sweet enough for me to consider it a satisfying cookie. Margaret in MD
Posted by: Unknown | February 5, 2012 7:54 AM Report this comment
New to gluten-free so this is somewhat expensive at this stage. Seems every time I find a recipe hubby would like there is one or two ingredients I don't have. Usually it is the "flour", ie: I will have brown rice and it calls for white rice, I have tapioca and it calls for potato, etc. And the flours are expensive...being retired and on a fixed income puts a strain on our finances. But thankfully we are eating mostly meats and veggies with the occasional baked good thrown in as a comfort food. Will do some more site browsing... I would bet there is a list of flours and subs on here somewhere.... Being allergic to wheat, corn, and dairy really limits the options. Then add soy to hubby's list and peanuts to mine.....makes for some real dietary changes! Thank you so much for this site...it has helped tremendously.
Posted by: Nina C | January 23, 2012 7:53 AM Report this comment
This is in response to the first two questions: Bob's Red Mill all-purpose flour seems to be really consistent and you should be able to replace it easily. I have tried it with different recipes and it always seems to work fine, if you like the flour blend and/or can tolerate it. I have found that amaranth tends to have a nutty taste, so any nut flour would work as a replacement, but you could also substitute with coconut, sorghum or gluten free oat flour. It is similar to millet and corn meal as well in taste, but is a little more moist that those two grains.
Posted by: Beverly S | January 19, 2012 5:41 PM Report this comment
What would be a good replacement for the amaranth flour? I'm allergic to that :(
Posted by: Kimberly M | January 19, 2012 2:06 PM Report this comment
Can Bob's Red Mill Gluten free flour be substituted for the flours in the recipe?
Posted by: Unknown | January 19, 2012 12:42 PM Report this comment