Sunflower Seed Butter and Maple Cookies

Isn't the color of these cookies awesome? The green inside is due to a chemical reaction of the sunflower seed butter, maple syrup, and baking soda. I think it's great. The flavor of the cookies is great, too. This recipe is based on one in The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook; however, I modified it to make it corn-free. I've been working on this recipe because the last time I visited my mom, she asked if I had a sunflower seed butter cookie recipe to use up the rest of the jar that she had bought for Sabrina and Naomi's sandwiches. I didn't have a recipe at the time, and I wanted to come up with one before our next visit. So here it is. I really like the combination of the sunflower seed butter, maple syrup, and cinnamon. I added the chocolate chips because a bit of chocolate makes most cookies better. And the cool green color is just a bonus.

Sunflower Seed Butter and Maple Cookies
makes about 24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup sunflower seed butter
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup. I like using grade B because it has more flavor.
• 2 Tbsp. flax seed meal. I use Bob's Red Mill brand.
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/2 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips. The two kinds I use that do not contain milk fat are Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips and Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl sift the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. I shake the ingredients through a sieve or stir them using a wire whisk. Measure the sunflower seed butter using solid measuring cups and scrape it into a medium size microwave-safe bowl. If your sunflower seed butter is refrigerated, microwave it for about 30 seconds to warm it up. Measure the maple syrup using a liquid measuring cup. Add the maple syrup, flax seed meal, and vanilla extract to the bowl, and stir. Next stir in the dry ingredients until no trace of flour remains. Then stir in the chocolate chips.

Using a cookie scooper or a tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop the dough and place it on the baking sheet, keeping a couple of inches between scoops of dough. Press down slightly on the balls of dough. If you use a small scooper, then you'll need two baking sheets and the recipe will make about 24 small cookies. Bake the sheets one at a time in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes each. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to continue cooling.