Healthy cookies to serve in your sukkah

Baked goods to delight you, as well as your guests.

By PASCALE PEREZ-RUBIN
Cookies (photo credit: PASCALE PEREZ-RUBIN)
Cookies
(photo credit: PASCALE PEREZ-RUBIN)
I love to host guests in my sukkah every year, and so I’m always searching for new cookie recipes to offer our friends and relatives as we hang out together in our temporary home.
Galit and Danny Marshek from Moshav Kidron both began eating more healthfully, and after they became vegan decided to open a vegan bakery so that they could share their love of healthy eating with others. As such, this year I’d like to focus on healthy cookies made with nuts, seeds and flours that are jam-packed with healthy goodness. Of course, they all taste phenomenally good, too, and you will become immediately popular with everyone you offer these treats.
The first recipe is for no-bake cookies with chocolate chips that can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the freezer in an airtight container. Just take them out 30 minutes before serving.
The second recipe is for blondies made with almonds and lemon and is perfect for vegans.
The third recipe is really fun because you can add whatever nuts, seeds or dried fruits you want.
The last recipe is for rosemary-flavored roasted nuts – the perfect snack to serve in your sukkah.
Wishing you all a hag sameah! 
NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE AND PECAN COOKIES
Use a 20 cm. x 20 cm. pan. Makes 50 cookies.
Base:
10-14 (200 g.) medjul dates, pitted
¾ cup (150 g.) almond butter
1½ cups (150 g.) natural pecans
½ cup (50 g.) natural pecans – to be kept separately
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Chocolate layer:
150 g. bittersweet chocolate
¼ cup (50 g.) almond cream
Topping:
½ cup pecans, chopped coarsely
To prepare the base, add the dates and almond butter to a food processor fitted with a metal blade and blend until smooth.
Add the pecans, vanilla, and salt and mix until smooth and crumbly, but if you pinch a bit with your fingers it sticks together easily.
Add the ½ cup of extra pecan and mix with a couple pulses so that pieces of the pecan remain.
Place baking paper on a tray and transfer dough to paper. Flatten until layer is evenly spread out.
To prepare the chocolate layer, add the chocolate pieces to a pot and melt over a bain-marie or put them in a bowl and melt the chocolate in the microwave for a few seconds at a time, stirring in between each time.
Add the almond butter and mix well. Pour the mixture on the baking paper and spread with a spatula or spoon. Sprinkle the pecan on top and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Remove and cut into squares.
Level of difficulty: Easy.
Time: 40 minutes.
Status: Pareve, Vegan, Gluten-free.
ALMOND AND RASPBERRY BLONDIES
Use a 25 cm. x 25 cm. pan.
½ cup (120 g.) natural applesauce
½ cup coconut oil
¾ cup (125 g.) brown cane sugar
Juice and zest from 1 lemon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 cup (120 g.) brown rice flour
1 cup (120 g.) almond flour
¼ cup (40 g.) tapioca starch
½ tsp. (2.5 g.) baking soda
100 g. raspberries, red or black, fresh or frozen
Preheat your oven to 160°C (320°F). Add the applesauce, coconut oil, cane sugar, lemon juice and zest, vanilla and salt to a bowl. Stir.
In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients – the rice and almond flours, the tapioca and baking soda. Gradually add the dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix by hand until smooth.
Line a tray with baking paper and pour mixture on top. The mixture should be about 2-cm. high.
Press the raspberries into the dough at even intervals with about 2 cm. between each piece. This will also make the pieces look nicer and easier to cut into squares, so that each one will have a berry in the center.
Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 160°C (320°F), for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out dry.
Let cool completely before cutting. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Level of difficulty: Easy.
Time: 45 minutes.
Status: Pareve, Vegan.
FUN COOKIES MADE FROM SPELT FLOUR AND COCONUT OIL
Makes 25 cookies.
100 g. coconut oil
100 g. cane sugar
20 g. maple or agave syrup
30 ml. water
80 g. oats (not ground)
150 g. whole spelt flour
6 g. baking powder
Vanilla/cinnamon
Pinch of salt
100 g. of your choice of toppings: pecans, cashews, cranberries, dried apricots, dates, raisins, pumpkin seeds, chocolate chips or any other topping you desire.
If you’re planning on baking with coconut oil, you need to be aware of its consistency, and notice whether it’s in a solid or liquid state. If it’s creamy and the color of a puffy white cloud, then you’re in luck. If it’s clear and liquidy, then the cookies are likely to come out too flat and might fall apart. If it’s too thick, you’ll have a hard time mixing it into the dough. However, it’s very easy to rectify this situation by putting the thick coconut mixture in the microwave for a few seconds to melt it. Now, it’s ready to add to the dough.
Add all the ingredients to the bowl of a mixer with a plastic blade or a dough hook and mix. Let the dough it sit in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Take pieces of dough that are about 20 grams and roll them into balls and place them on a baking tray about 4 cm. from each other.
Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 170°C (approx. 340°F) for 12-14 minutes. The bottom of the cookies should be brown. Let cool completely.
Level of difficulty: Easy.
Time: 30 minutes.
Status: Pareve, Vegan.
SPICY NUTS
Makes 1 liter.
3 cups of nuts, such as pecan, natural whole almonds, walnuts or any nut you desire
½ tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
Leaves of a sprig of rosemary, chopped
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Spread out on a tray covered with baking paper. Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 100°C (approx. 200°F) for 20-30 minutes. Let cool completely.
Level of difficulty: Easy.
Time: 30 minutes.
Status: Pareve, Vegan.
Translated by Hannah Hochner.