Quinoa Date Walnut Cookies

I made these cookies yesterday using the Red Quinoa Walnut Cookies recipe on Cole’s Kitch that derives from a recipe by Heidi Swanson of 101 cookbooks.

Everything I used was white because I found worms in my whole wheat flour and my brown sugar was rock hard.

I know – complete pantry fail.

I am reviving the brown sugar now, but I used white flour and white sugar to make these cookies yesterday. I think red quinoa would have looked lovely, but I only had white quinoa on hand.

Like Cole, I found the cookies came out plenty sweet using only 1 ½ cups of sugar. Instead of ¾ cup of chopped walnuts, I used a ½ cup each of chopped dates and chopped Emerald Glazed Walnuts.

I don’t have a mixer, so I had to beat this mix by hand. Even so, the cookies baked up light and fluffy. I gave them 13 minutes in the oven and then about 2 minutes resting on the pan. The cookies had a crisp exterior and a light interior that surprised me. I expected adding quinoa would weigh these cookies down, but actually the opposite is true – it was as if I had stirred in bubbles of air.

The oats provide a chewy depth to the cookies. The dates and the nuts make each bite a little different than the last.

The cookies moistened a bit overnight. My son said they reminded him of scones, though for sure, these cookies are much sweeter than scones.

I made about 4 dozen cookies. I gave 2 dozen away today to keep us from eating them all.

You could substitute raisins or other dried fruit and any nuts you prefer in this recipe. You could even use chocolate bits I bet.

This is one of my very favorite recipes included in my free e-book, Keenonquinoa’s Favorite Quinoa Recipes. Download your copy today for an easy to print version of this recipe.

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