Snickerdoodle Cookies

I was craving snickerdoodle cookies a few days ago, badly.  I think it was buildup of seeing bake sales and not-good-for-you-but-taste-so-good treats all weekend at a fall festival.  Do you ever experience those food envy cravings?  I had to get in the kitchen and figure out how to make some snickerdoodles.  This recipe is inspired by my Cinnamon Walnut Cookie recipe on page 48 of Season's Eatings holiday e-cookbook.  And boy, did these snickerdoodles turn out great!  Chewy on the outside and gooey in the middle, with crunch at the edges.  I just needed that cinnamon-sugar taste and a little chewiness to make my brain chemistry okay again.  : )

(I also tried a pumpkin snickerdoodle version, but it didn't turn out perfectly.  I'll post that recipe later after I tweak it.)

TIP:  I made two batches of snickerdoodles.  For the first batch, I coated them in both cinnamon and xylitol.  On the second dozen, I used only cinnamon.  As you may know, xylitol doesn't melt down at all like sugar does.  For that reason, I liked the cinnamon-only cookies better texture-wise.  But that's just me.  You or your kids might like them with cinnamon+xylitol.

Snickerdoodle Cookies
Makes 16 Cookies

2 cups fine ground blanched almond flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
5 Tbsp coconut oil or raw butter, melted
2 Tbsp raw honey or grade B maple syrup or vanilla honey (makes these cookies nice and crispy!)
30-40 drops pure liquid stevia
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

SNICKERDOODLE COATING:
3 Tbsp xylitol
3 Tbsp cinnamon

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, mix together the almond flour, sea salt and baking soda.

2.)  In a separate small bowl, whisk together the melted coconut oil, honey, stevia, and vanilla extract.

3.)  Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients, stirring until well combined.

4.)  In a small bowl, stir the cinnamon and xylitol together for the snickerdoodle coating.

5.)  Take Tablespoon sized scoops of the cookie dough, form into a circle in your hands, then roll the dough ball in the snickerdoodle coating mixture covering all sides.

6.)  Place your coated dough balls onto the cookie sheets evenly.  Use the bottom of a canning jar or coffee mug greased with coconut oil to press out each cookie into a perfect circle, about 1/4 inch thick. 

7.)  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool on the pans for 10 minutes before moving to cooling rack.  Let cool completely on cooling rack before eating, as they need this time to set and get crunchy on the edges!