Dec 29, 2014
Chocolate Cherry Cordial Cookies ~ Vegan, Gluten-free and Oil-free!
Happy almost 2015! I hope that your holidays have been filled with wonder and joy… and healthy eating! The holidays can sabotage any healthy eating plan, that’s for sure. As promised, here is a festive dessert for your New Year’s gathering which you can indulge in without the guilt. I am taking these to a party on New Year’s Day and I think they will be a smash!
If you are or were a fan of chocolate covered cherries, you will love these! I was asked by a friend and reader to “nutritarianize” these cookies that she found at a party, which were made with maraschino cherries and other not-so-health-friendly ingredients. Challenge accepted! Hope you like them, Jan-Marie!
Ingredients:
~ for the cookies
dry:
- 1 cup tightly-packed, blanched almond flour
- ½ cup brown rice flour
- ½ cup coconut sugar or other minimally-processed, granulated sweetener
- ¼ cup non-alkalized cocoa powder
- 2 TBS tapioca flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
wet:
- 1 TBS flax meal + 5 TBS water
- ¼ cup raw almond butter
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp natural cherry flavoring (optional)
~ for the cherries
- 16 frozen, black cherries
- 2 TBS kirsch or brandy (optional/replace with water or cherry juice if not using)
- 1 tsp natural cherry flavoring (optional but really adds that cherry flavor and since we’re not using maraschino cherries with all that fake flavor, it really helps out with this recipe)
- 2 tsp tapioca flour dissolved in 2 TBS water
- 1 TBS liquid sweetener such as date syrup, agave or coconut nectar
topping:
- ½ cup melted, vegan chocolate chips
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cooling and before their chocolate drizzle… |
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix the flax meal with the water and set aside.
- Place all the dry cookie ingredients in a food processor and pulse to combine.
- Add the wet cookie ingredients, including the flax mixture, and pulse until you have a dough consistency and it is well mixed. It should come together in a ball.
- Using a heaping 2 TBS scoop, portion out the dough onto the cookie sheet. Flatten each cookie a bit and make an indentation in the center, as you would a thumbprint cookie.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- While the cookies are baking, work on your cherry filling: Place the frozen cherries and all the other cherry ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer until the liquid becomes gooey (which it will from the tapioca). Set aside but keep warm. NOTE: If you want an authentic cherry cordial result, with spirits intact, add a the liquor after the mixture has cooled a bit.
- As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, use a ½ tsp measuring spoon to push the centers back down (they will have risen a bit while baking), making room for the cherries.
- Add one cherry and some of the gooey sauce to the center of each cookie.
- Let cool and top with a drizzle of melted vegan chocolate (I used vegan chocolate chips and melted them in a double boiler).
Makes 16 cookies. Enjoy!
Healthy trails and a happy and prosperous New Year to you!
Hi Helyn,
What lovely bits have you sprinkled on top of the chocolate cherry cookies?
Ah well, you caught me, Patti! They’re just red sugar sprinkles. I know, not a whole food or healthy AT ALL. 😮
The cookies are very festive, the sprinkles are a treat!