Being gluten-free and eating whole food, does not mean we have to take the fun out of baking. This recipe is for the kids and the kid in all of us who love having fun with our food. My kids love making this quick dough and rolling it around to make shapes, letters, creatures, and anything imaginary. They especially love eating the results of their creativity.
I have fond memories of making bread sticks with my grandma. She would always give a lump of dough to my brother and I to have fun with. We would make fun creations and eagerly await the finished product baking in the oven. Unfortunately, the bread my grandma makes so well no longer fits into the gluten-free world we live in. However, I don’t want my kids to miss out on those special memories and they don’t have to.
This recipe is inspired by a bread stick recipe written by Danielle Walker of Against All Grain. Her recipe is great and my kids love her savory bread sticks, but I wanted to make a sweet version. I didn’t even think about the possibility of using the dough to create fun shapes until after I developed the recipe. The dough is so easy to shape and roll, I just started making my own creations as a way to get my oldest involved in baking. He loves sea creatures, as you can see by this lovely octopus!
Octopus Cookie
What makes this recipe so easy is that it is grain-free. You won’t need a whole pantry full of flours and starches to make this from scratch. It utilizes almond flour and coconut flour, as well as, great wholesome ingredients, which are in-line with the Paleo approach to eating. The finished product is a lightly crispy cookie, but moist, and has a graham cracker type flavor, perfect for kids.
This recipe couldn’t be easier, but a picture is worth a thousand words, so I thought I might start with a quick tutorial before giving you the printable recipe. Here goes…
Step 1: Mix all the ingredients in a stand mixer and combine until it forms a dough and balls up on the paddle.
Step 2: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut a second piece of parchment paper for rolling your dough adjacent to the baking sheet. The second piece of parchment will be used to roll out your creations and then transfer onto the baking sheet.
Parchment and Dough
Step 3: Remove dough from mixer and form into one large ball. Divide the large ball into 5 equal parts and roll each into a ball. Each of these 5 balls can be divided into 4 smaller pieces for rolling. In total, you will have 20 smaller pieces of dough to form. The amount you use is totally up to what you are creating. Sometimes I just need one piece to make a circle, but several pieces to make letters or animals.
Rolling Dough Balls
Step 4: Take a small ball of dough and roll with your finger tips until you form a pencil thick stick. If it cracks a little, just wet your finger tips and form back into shape. From there, be creative. We make geometrical shapes, letters, creatures, twists and spirals. You can be creative and let your little one make some abstract art if he or she wishes (we do that a lot too)!
Ready to bake
Step 5: Once your creations are complete and transferred to the baking pan, bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies turn just slightly light brown on the edges.
Once they are cool, go ahead and let your kiddos dig into their creations!
- 1 ¼ cup almond flour
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp macadamia nut oil (can also use any nut oil such as walnut, almond, or vegetable oil)
- 1 Tbsp honey (raw is best)
- 2 Tbsp coconut flour
- 2 Tbsp coconut sugar (can also use brown sugar or sucanat)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix all the ingredients in a stand mixer and combine until it forms a dough and balls up on the paddle.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut a second piece of parchment paper for rolling your dough adjacent to the baking sheet.
- Remove dough from mixer and form into one large ball on the parchment paper.
- Divide the large ball into 5 equal parts and roll each into a ball. Each of these 5 balls can be divided into 4 smaller pieces for rolling. In total, you will have 20 smaller pieces of dough to form.
- Take a small ball of dough and roll with your fingertips until you form a pencil thick stick. Use the stick to make different shapes or creations.
- If it cracks a little, just wet your fingertips and form back into shape.
- Transfer finished cookie creation to the baking sheet.
- Once all cookies are transferred to the baking sheet, bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are light brown on the edges.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes on baking pan before removing.
- Cookies can continue to cool on the pan.
