Amaranth Spice Cookies are a perfect choice to satisfy sweet tooth in a nutritious way. These Amaranth cookies are high in protein and fiber. And they are so crispy and delicious!
Amaranth flour! What is it? Amaranth is an ancient grain filled with protein and amino acids, perfect to include in a healthy diet.This is my second recipe using Amaranth flour. I also made Rajgira – Gluten Free Shortbread cookies.
Besides Amaranth, I’ve been trying other non-traditional flours this year. For example, I used almond flour in the best gluten free cookies. Then I made these delicious quinoa chocolate chip cookies. This time I am on my third bag of amaranth flour! Because this amazing flour makes super delicious cookies! I don’t know why I haven’t used it before. Well, no more store-bought treats for me this year thanks to Amaranth!
How does amaranth flour cookie dough work?
Well, amaranth flour cookie dough won’t win any gluten free cookie dough beauty contests. It’s simply not one of the most attractive things in the baking world. It’s unattractive dark brown in color and slimy in texture. This is how I work with the amaranth flour cookie dough.
- First, make sure to use parchment paper to make these amaranth flour cookies. Otherwise the bottom of the cookies will get stuck to the cookie sheet. Parchment paper makes things so much easier. Trust me – I know it because I made a mistake of not using a parchment paper first time I made these cookies.
- Next, I form 18 cookies by spooning them onto the baking sheet. They will be slimy, oily, and not very attractive – but that’s OK.
- Keep in mind that while the dough is runny, it should still hold its shape as shown in the picture below. If it doesn’t, add 1 tablespoon of additional amaranth flour at a time. Do not add more than 2 tablespoons.
- These spicy amaranth cookies also don’t look good at all at this point. But don’t let that discourage you. Just like ugly ducklings they will turn into beautiful amaranth swans in about 8 minutes!
- Depending on the type of cookie sheet these spice cookies will bake for 8 to 10 minutes. If it’s enameled cookie sheet, you will bake them for about 8 minutes. But if it’s a metal one – about 9-10 minutes.
- Below is the picture of the slimy and not very pretty raw cookies right before the go into the oven.
But what follows is the transformation of the ugly ducklings into the pretty swans:
Can I use less sugar?
Yes you can. I’ve used ¼ cup and even ⅛ cup of brown sugar to make these spice cookies.
Can I make these amaranth cookies spicier?
You can and you should! Double up on the spices and use more! I recommend ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon cardamom and 2 teaspoon ginger powder to create the most aromatic amaranth cookies! By the way, you can also use cardamom or coriander.
If you have never tried amaranth this is your chance to fall in love with this super food grain.
More alternative flour cookie recipes
The Best Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie (Almond Flour)
Almond Flour Cookies with Cranberries
Buckwheat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
Amaranth Spice Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- ⅓ cup Olive Oil
- ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
- ⅔ cup amaranth flour, (batter should be spoonable)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- ⅛ teaspoon cardamom powder
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Add olive oil and egg – whisk together in the a small ceramic bowl. Next add brown sugar and mix well. Add lemon zest and spices.
- Slowly add amaranth flour, baking soda and salt into the mixture.
- Using a table spoon, add cookie dough on top of the parchment paper (see picture inside the post ). You will have 16 to 18 small cookies.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes and remove from the cooking sheet within 5 minutes after done.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only. This information comes from online calculators. Although whatsinthepan.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
I really like crispy cookies and these aren’t. Any suggestions how to make them crispy. Just fyi you don’t state when to add the lemon zest. I assumed it was with the spices.
They have to be thinner to get the crisp and also the heat should be higher (or longer at 350 – will have to experiment). I added the lemon zest to the instructions – thank you.
Any idea the carb count cuz diabetics need to know carbs for everything they eat.?
106 calories per cookie, Dianne. I just updated the recipe with that info. Thank you for reminding me!
I really enjoyed these cookies! Not overly sweet, just how I like them :). The taste reminds me of graham crackers. Anyone else think so? Such any easy recipe and it makes just enough for a quick treat. I make them bigggg, so I only get a dozen. Thanks for the recipe!
I also make them big. They spread out well too.
Any suggestions on how to make it taste “less earthy”?
Good question. I noticed that too. Maybe cinnamon, but it might be too strong.
Hi, thanks so much for this amaranth recipe! I love amaranth and can digest it. I did the recipe last night without the right spices and a bit of honey and small bit of baking soda and it worked so well and was so easy! The batter slurped all together really easily and it cooked within 20 minutes which has been unhead of at this altitude (8500′). Today i tried using the basic recipe to make something that will be just a plain thingy to give that bready sensation. (Can’t do wheat etc.) Do you have a recipe for an amarath plain scone or flatbread or bread? I can’t really do the baking soda or powder thing either! Thanks!
Layana – thank you! I love these cookies myself. I only made Amaranth Shortbread – they are cookie like, but with no soda.
These turned out so well. Thank you for such a healthy recipe.
Thank you for this amazing recipe. The cookies were so delicious and easy to make.
Thank you Randa. So happy you love amaranth too!
Mom’s had a bag of this flour in the freezer cause she doesn’t know what to make with it. I’m gonna go make us some cookies!!! 😀 Thanks for the recipe!
Haha – good idea.
I made the cookies exactly as the recipe stated, but I did reduce the sugar amount to 1/4th cup. I didn’t have any lemon zest so I didn’t add it. The cookies came out delicious! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
I love the taste of Amaranth – so nutty and addictive.
When I made these- the batter was extremely runny. I put in another 1/3 cup of amaranth flour and and still could not form balls. I ended up adding sprouted flour until it was stiff enough to hold a shape.
They taste delicious but I am not sure what happened.
I posted the picture of the raw cookies before I placed them in the oven. If you can take a look at it and see if yours looked like that too? It is going to be runny, oily and slimy – but needs to hold its shape when you spoon it. Sorry for the miscommunication.