Cocoa Biscuits with Maca & Pistachios

I adapted this recipe from the lovely and inspiring My New Roots when trying to come up with more of a biscotti type cookie. In the original post from this past summer, Sarah made a lemon and cardamom version to go with a Danish snack of strawberries and summer cream. I decided to create my own wintry version full of cocoa, maca, cardamom, espresso, and a good dose of pistachios.

These biscuits are good on their own, or dunked into your favorite warm beverage. You could also take a cue from the original recipe and douse them in some thick coconut milk with perhaps some sliced up pears. These biscuits have a relatively long shelf life for a gluten free/vegan baked good, so feel free to make as many as you want. Just make sure to store them in an airtight container. Happy Christmas! 🙂

230g oat flour, plus a bit more if needed for rolling out the dough

40g unsweetened cocoa powder

30g maca powder (or more oat flour if you can’t find it/don’t have it)

75g coconut sugar

scant tbsp espresso powder

1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt

1 tsp baking powder

120g unsweetened applesauce

40g melted coconut oil

25g pure maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup pistachios, finely chopped

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, cocoa, maca, coconut sugar, espresso powder, cardamom, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor. Process for a bit until mixed well. In a separate bowl, combine the applesauce, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Whisk together until the mixture is smooth. Pour the wet mixture into the food processor and pulse until the dough comes together and begins to form a ball. The dough should be a tad sticky but not too wet. If it seems too wet, pulse in a bit more oat flour. If it seems too dry, pulse in a bit of water.

Lightly dust your work surface with a bit of oat flour. Dump the dough out onto the surface, then divide it into quarters. Take the first quarter and roll it into a log that is about 8 to 10 inches long. On a separate area or clean part of your work space, sprinkle an even layer of pistachios and then gently roll the dough log back and forth to coat it. Cut the log into rounds that are about 1/2 an inch thick then place them on your baking sheet. Repeat this process with the remaining dough. Bake the biscuits for 12 minutes, then turn off the oven and allow them to sit in the oven as it cools. Once cool store biscuits in an airtight container. Makes 40 to 50 biscuits.