Chocolate Walnut Cookies (Grain and Gluten Free)

These chocolate walnut cookies are perfect for the upcoming holidays. They are grain and gluten free and you need only five ingredients to prepare them.
The cookies taste amazing. They are crunchy with a hint of chocolate. Imagine how good they are going to look on your festive table. You can serve them with a cup of coffee or tea. They will also be a great for snack or dessert.

Why should you make this recipe?
These chocolate walnut cookies are inspired by the very popular recipe for chocolate crackle cookies. The original recipe has flour as the main ingredient. There is nothing wrong with flour and grins in general. I think that healthy people should enjoy everything in moderation. I just wanted to offer you more grain and gluten free recipes for the Holidays. Therefore, instead of flour I used ground walnuts. They are much more nutritious than refined flour.
Walnuts are a great source of the heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids. They also provide the body with valuable antioxidants, vitamins minerals and dietary fiber.
People with gluten intolerance and celiac disease can safely consume these cookies. Compared to the original recipe for chocolate crackle cookies this one is also lower on refined sugar. In my recipe I replaced it with maple syrup. Maple syrup has lower glycemic index than refined sugar. This means that that your blood sugar won’t elevate as much.
You should also make this recipe because it is easy and fast. It takes about thirty minutes to prepare these cookies. Rolling the dough balls can be fun activity for the whole family.

Helpful tips
For this recipe I use cacao powder instead of cocoa powder. The cacao powder is raw and less processed. It is very important to use unsweetened cacao or cocoa powder.
I used a tablespoon to scoop out of the dough and I ended up with 18 cookies. If you want to make more than 18 cookies you can make them smaller, but you also have to reduce the baking time.
Once the cookies are baked they are very soft. They become harder as they cool off. If you try to move them from the baking sheet when they are hot they might fall apart. Leave them on the baking sheet for at least five minutes. Then use a spatula to transfer them on a cooling rack.
Store the cookies in a food safe container on the countertop for 3-4 days. If you want them to last longer you can keep them in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Walnut Cookies
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 3 cups raw walnuts shells removed
- 6 Tbsp maple syrup
- 4 Tbsp melted unsalted butter
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened cacao powder
- powdered sugar for rolling the cookies
- more walnut halves for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add three cups of walnut halves in a food processor and process on high until they are finely ground. Then transfer them in a bowl.
- In the bowl with the ground walnuts add 4 tablespoons of melted butter, 6 tablespoons of maple syrup and 1 tablespoon of cacao powder. Mix well until well combined.
- Use a tablespoon to scoop from the mixture roll it between your palms to form a ball. Repeat until you are out of mixture.
- Add some powdered sugar in a bowl or a dish. Roll the dough balls in the powdered sugar until they are covered with powdered sugar on each side.
- Line all the balls on the baking sheet.
- Press a walnut half on top of each dough ball.
- Bake for 15 min at 350F.
- Once the cookies are baked they are going to be too soft to transfer. Leave them in the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes to cool off before transferring them onto a cooling rack.

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