Nutella Cookie Sandwich

Vegan and gluten-free never looked and tasted better.

Time to read: 4 mins | Time to make: 1 hour | Yields: 20 cookies

Ingredients

Cookies:

• 1 cup (120 g) oat flour

• 3/4 cup (105 g) brown rice flour

• 1/4 cup (40 g) coconut sugar

• 1 tsp baking powder

• pinch of salt

• 1/4 cup (50 g) melted coconut oil

• 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 flax egg (1 tbsp flaxseed meal + 2 tbsp water)

• 1 tbsp (15 g) peanut butter

• Healthy Chocolate Spread like one below

THE BEST Homemade Nutella :

• 2 cups (260 g) roasted hazelnuts

• 3/4 cup (75 g) cacao powder*

• 2 tbsp coconut oil (melted)

• 1 cup (240 ml) nondairy milk (soy vanilla )

• 8 juicy Medjool dates (remove stones and soak in boiling water for a short time)

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• pinch of salt

Method - Nutella:

If you are making homemade spread

(Recommended)

1. Mix the hazelnuts, cacao, and salt in a food processor and blend until you get a butter texture.

2. Add oil and dates, then milk and vanilla extract.

3. Blend until you get a uniform creamy mixture.

4. Store them in a sealed container in the fridge.

Notes:

Dates - if they are juicy, you can skip the soaking

Honey - if you like sweeter spreads, add two tablespoons of honey.

Milk - I wanted a thicker spread and I added milk until I reached the desired texture. Adjust the quantities to your taste.

Method - Cookies

Prepare the dough

1. Whisk together the oat flour, brown rice flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

2. Add the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, flax egg, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. Mix using a wooden spoon until well combined.

3. The dough must be thick, a little wet but not too sticky**. If sticky, add more oat flour.

4. Flatten the dough to form a disc, fold in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Play with the dough

1. Preheat oven to 325°F, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.

2. Once the dough has chilled, remove it from the fridge and place it on parchment paper. Cover with another parchment and roll the dough to 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) thick using a rolling pin.

3. Cut out shapes in the dough with a 1inch (2 cm) diameter cookie cutter or shot glass :), cutting them as close to one another as possible.

4. Roll the scraps of dough into a ball and repeat the previous steps until all the dough is used.

Bake and Assemble

1. Transfer the cookies on the lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until the edges become golden brown.

2. Remove from the oven and directly transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool entirely as the cookies will continue to dry and harden while they cool down.

3. Spread about a tablespoon of homemade Nutella on one cookie, cover with the other, and enjoy!

4. Store them in a sealed container in the fridge.

Notes

*For a protein-enriched version of Nutella, substitute 1/4 cup of cacao with 1/4 cup of whey chocolate protein powder. Our favorite is this one.

** Dough is sticky and it yields soft cookies which I like for sandwich cookies. If you prefer crunchy cookies add more flour.

*** Nutella recipe is by my food blogger friend from back home, Ivana. Check her Instagram out.

Nutrition facts, per cookie:

Energy: 140kcal | Carbs: 21 g | Protein: 2 g | Fat: 5 g