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CRUNCHY 5 INGREDIENT COOKIES or BARS
EASIEST EVER and GLUTEN-FREE
Recipes created by Teri Gentes.  Permission required to reprint.
 
Made with only five, whole-food ingredients you likely already have on hand, these crunchy creations are the best ever! They can be enjoyed as-is, sweet, simple and perfect for dunking into your fave hot beverage or all jazzed up like a cookie pizza. (See the pictures below.)

Choose the size and shape you want. Once baked, I love them dunked into a thick SunButter maple crème as you can see in one of the pictures. You'll also find a quick dip recipe below along with a DIY pumpkin spice.
This all makes for cookie perfection in my view.
  • Dessert or snack
  • Prep time including baking, approx. 25 minutes
  • Vegan; gluten and soy free, nut-free option below                                                                      
  • Makes approx. 8 big cookies or 18 small cookies
 
INGREDIENTS:
 
1¼ cups almond meal or 1 cup ground gluten-free oatmeal flakes
1/2 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped (sub with seeds if desired)
1/2 cup very soft Medjool dates (soak in water 15 minutes if needed, then drain well)
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 heaping tsp pumpkin spice (see below) or equal parts ground cinnamon and ginger powder
Pinch sea salt, don’t skip this, ½ tsp adds a fabulous flavor enhancement
 
OPTIONAL TOPPING SUGGESTIONS:
Nut or seed butter, dried fruits, coconut, cacao nibs, coconut, molasses, additional pumpkin spice
 
DIRECTIONS:
  1.  Preheat oven to 340F and lightly oil a cookie sheet(s), two 12 cup muffin pans or a 9 x 12 baking dish.
  2. Blend all the ingredients in a food processor until the mixture comes together in a ball and sticks together when rolled. Approx. 1 minute. 
  3. Stop and scrape the sides down if needed and adding a tbsp or so of water if the mixture doesn’t stick together well.
  4. Taste and add a touch more oil or dates for sweetness and stickiness adjusting if needed.
  5. Now shape into balls and press into flat, thin cookies, placing on the baking sheet ½ in apart. (You can enjoy these as power balls for they are delicious raw.) Alternatively press 1 heaping tbsp dough into the bottom of each muffin cup packing evenly and firmly or press into one giant round or square about 1/3 inch thick. Great for cookie-grams. 
  6. Bake in the preheated oven 10-14 or so minutes pending on cookie size You will know they are dine when golden and somewhat firm. 
  7. Place cookie sheet/muffin tins on a baking rack. The cookies will cool to be nice and crunchy.
  8. When ready, serve as is or jazz them up with a drizzle of SunButter (thin with warm plant milk to icing consistency) along with a shower of dried fruits, seeds, coconut, cacao nibs etc. and a sprinkling of the pumpkin spice blend.
  
TERI’S TIPS:
  • If you deal with nut allergies, substitute the toasted pecans or walnuts with pumpkin, sunflower or sesame seeds.
  • Add in 1/4 to 1/2 cup coconut flakes or ribbons for more texture and taste.
  • To make even large cookie rounds, use a stainless steel or glass bowl as your cookie cutter. 
  • Make an easy to drizzle ‘icing’ by combining a few tbsp of your favorite nut, seed or coconut mana butter with an equal or additional amount of hot water to reach a desired consistency. The butters all vary in thickness impacting the amount of liquid needed. A splash of maple syrup is a yummy addition if using unsweetened SunButter.
  • You can even top with whipped coconut crème or fill make vegan ice crème sandwiches by spreading between two cookies and freezing until solid. Defrost 10 minutes before enjoying.