Chocolate Vanilla Pinwheel Cookies (Gluten-free and Paleo)

My dad taught me to make pinwheel cookies when I was young. We'd make checkerboard cookies too, the same contrast between vanilla and chocolate shortbread dough, but shaped into squares with a checkerboard pattern. 

I revamped this recipe to use almond flour, and the result was soft, chewy and delicious. The chocolate dough is my favorite of the two (go figure), but swirled together the chocolate and vanilla make a perfect pair. They say opposites attract or something, I guess it's true! 

Having made pinwheel cookies dozens of times, I thought this might be a good opportunity to test my skills at making a how-to video of how to roll up the cookies and make a swirl. Well. I think I need to work on my videography skills: I wasn't even 20 seconds in to recording when I realized I had no idea where the rolling pin was, or where I had decided to store it in the new kitchen. I left the camera rolling for a good 5 minutes while I rushed from cupboard to cupboard trying to find it. 

The errors didn't end there and let's just jump to the end of the story because there's no video to share. Cleary I'm going to need to take on a class on videography before I try to make any recipes videos! 😂

Chocolate Vanilla Pinwheel Cookies (Gluten-free and Paleo)

Paleo, Primal, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

Chocolate dough and vanilla dough are layered and then rolled into a log before being sliced into rounds to create a pretty chocolate vanilla pinwheel.

Yields: 12   |    Total Time: 60 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 2 cups almond flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup coconut oil or butter, melted
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• Scant 1/4 cup cocoa

Directions:

1. First, make the vanilla dough: Whisk together HALF each of the almond flour, salt, and baking soda. Then, pour in HALF each of the melted butter, melted honey, and vanilla. Use your hands or a spatula to stir until a sticky, even dough is formed. Roll into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in fridge.
2. Second, make the chocolate dough: Whisk together the remaining almond flour, salt, and baking soda. Add in the cocoa, whisking in. Then, pour in the remaining melted butter, melted honey, and vanilla. Again, use a spatula or your hands to work into a sticky dough. Roll into a ball and wrap in saran wrap.
3. Allow both dough balls to chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 325°. Prepare your work station: Place 1 sheet of parchment paper on the counter (18 inches long should be sufficient), and then cut two additional pieces of the same size.
5. Unwrap the vanilla dough from the saran wrap and place on the first piece of parchment on the counter. Place the second piece of parchment over top, and begin to roll out the dough to a 1/8 of an inch thick. The parchment keeps the dough from sticking while you roll it out.
6. Once the dough is in an even, thin layer, peel back the top layer of parchment. Leaving the dough on the bottom piece, move it aside (carefully). Place the third piece of parchment in front of you place the chocolate dough ball on it. Place the free piece of parchment over top and roll the dough out just the same. Once rolled, peel back the top layer.
7. Now, move carefully: lift one of the rolled out pieces of dough (still attached to the parchment) and place it dough-side down against the other flavor of dough. You should now have a parchment dough sandwich: parchment, chocolate dough, vanilla dough, parchment. Peel off the top piece of parchment.
8. Working from one edge of the dough, begin rolling both layers together into a log. I like to lift the parchment with the dough as a roll it (then pulling it back so as not to roll it into the cookie) in order to keep the dough from crumbing or cracking. Make the log tight, shopping it as you roll by gently squeezing it. Once the entire log is rolled up, us a piece of thread (or floss) to cut off the first inch of the log by holding on to the two ends, left and right and pulling the floss down through the log (the ends of the log of dough is usually uneven and does not have a great swirl— you can still bake and eat it, it just won’t be as pretty). Use the floss again to slice each cookie, about 1/4 of an inch thick. Place each sliced cookie round on a baking sheet.
9. Bake for 9 minutes, until just golden. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes.

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie (Grain-Free)

I'll be about 30 more minutes, my friend said. I looked at the clock, and then to the pile of ingredients I had set out. I can test two versions of chocolate chip cookies in 30 minutes, right? What else am I going to do? 

Spoiler alert: testing two batches of chocolate chip cookies takes more than 30 minutes. 

An hour later, I was pulling the pan out of the oven, sampling one of each version with a spoon and blowing on them because they had yet to cool. Originally, I had thought, I'll make both versions and then ask people their favorite. But even in that rushed instant of taste testing, the choice was clear. There was a winner, and there was no question about it. 

In the interest of "testing", I made the winning batch again, to make sure I hadn't mixed anything up in my original "30-minute" test bake. I tried it with egg as the binder and gelatin. The egg version spread a bit more, and was slightly more chewy. That said, the gelatin version was pretty dang good too, so below you'll find the recipe lets you pick which binder you'd rather use. Yup, these are a winner! 

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies (Grain-Free)

Published July 16, 2016 by Caitlin Sherwood

A classic chocolate chip cookie, using almond flour!

Serves: 12   |    Total Time: 40 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup + 1 tablespoon blanched almond flour
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used a mix of chocolate chips and a chopped dark chocolate bar)

Directions:

1. Before you begin, brown your butter by heating over low heat, stir occasionally, until it turns golden brown (but not burnt!). Then, place butter in the fridge to chill/solidify.
2. Preheat over to 350°F. Creamy chilled butter with coconut sugar and maple syrup. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat with an electric mixer until well combined.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, sift together your dry ingredients: almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, salt. Add dry mixture to butter mixture 1/2 at a time, beating until incorporated. Then, fold in chocolate chips.
4. Scoop dough by the rounded tablespoon (or 2 flat tablespoons worth of dough) and roll into a ball. Lightly flatten dough balls with your palms to 1/2 to 3/4 inch thickness. Place 1 inch apart on baking sheet. Bake for 11-14 minutes, until cookies are fragrant and puffed. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before moving them; they need to set (you are welcome to eat them with a spoon before then, just don’t burn yourself!). Store in air-tight container.

Anthony's Goods provided me with the product for this recipe. 

Paleo Almond Flour Snickerdoodle Cookies

Snickerdoodle cookies fill your house with the best, homiest, sweetest smell. Especially these snickerdoodles, which are made with cinnamon, coconut sugar, honey and almond flour.

It is snowing here today — giant flakes that drift like feathers on their way down. And lucky me! I have the day off. I’m sticking around the house, and this weather is PERFECT for cookies, which is exactly why I jumped in an made this recipe, which I originally created in 2016, but am revisiting today (January, 2019).

I’m using my go-to combination for cookie dough here: almond flour with a tiny bit of salt and baking soda, and honey and coconut oil. It’s miraculous to me that those five ingredients are all you need (plus a little vanilla) to make a gluten-free, grain-free, better-for-you cookie dough, but it’s true. What’s more, they come out of the oven a little bit chewy and crispy on the outside. Dipped in a glass of milk they are SO tender and melt-away delicious.

I LOVE cinnamon — in snickerdoodle cookies, but also in pie and almond butter and chai and more. Apparently that love does not run in the family, something I learned some time in high school:

It started at my Mom's house. When I found the cinnamon jar empty, I asked her if we had anymore. She mentioned something about being surprised we were out, she didn't like cinnamon at all and would never use it. I'm not sure which put more of a rut in my baking plans: finding out we didn't have cinnamon, or finding out I might need to just skip it all together. After all of these years, how could I not know that my own mother didn't like cinnamon?! I had been putting it in next to everything.

It was only a few days later I was to find out my dad agreed with her. After the missing cinnamon debacle, I tried to make the same exact recipe a week later at my dad's house. You can probably guess what happens next. He was out of cinnamon as well! I asked him the same thing: "Do we have any more?" and he respond in almost an identical way: "That's weird that we're out, I hate cinnamon." My eyes just about popped out of their sockets. Hate cinnamon?

I hadn't realized anyone had a problem with cinnamon until that moment in my mom's kitchen, and now you're telling me both of my parents are holding a grudge against the stuff?! 

For the record, I replenished both cinnamon supplies, kept baking with cinnamon, and they both continued to eat my baked treats happily. I guess their distaste for cinnamon only went so far. 

Watch the video below, or click here if you do not see the video player.

Paleo Almond Flour Snickerdoodle Cookies

Published August 2, 2016 by Caitlin Sherwood

Yields: 12   |    Active Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

2 cups almond flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup honey, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Fit a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine almond flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine.
3. Add melted coconut oil, honey, and vanilla and stir to make a stiff dough. Scoop dough by the tablespoonful into your hands, and gently shape into a sphere. Repeat until all of the dough is used.
4. In a small bowl, combine coconut sugar and cinnamon. Stir to incorporate. One at a time, place the cookie dough balls in the sugar mixture, and roll to coat. Place coated cookie dough ball on the prepared baking sheet, leaving at least 1-inch between each cookie. Repeat until all of the cookie dough balls are coated.
5. Using a fork, gently press down on each cookie to flatten it to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
6. Bake for 10-14 minutes, until cookies are puffy, fragrant, and golden. Allow to cool 10 minutes (they will continue to set as they cool).