Prior to becoming gluten and corn free, my Abbi used to be a very picky eater (she still can be at times – she is definitely a toddler!). Though throughout all of her picky stages, one food has always remained a constant favorite: raw almonds. If I couldn’t get Abbi to eat anything on her plate I always knew I’d be able to get her to eat a handful of almonds. I kid you not, if you show Abbi a bulk package of almonds from Costco, she will laugh and yell and jump up and down with glee! They are one of her favorite things… she is a very silly girl!
These Toddler Bites are the packed with fiber and protein and have just enough sweetness to appeal to picky toddlers (and adults)!
Abbi’s Grain Free Toddler Bites
Yields 1 dozen cookies
1 1/4 cup blanched almond meal, slightly packed (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1 tablespoon flax meal
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup almonds, walnuts, or pecans, chopped (or various seeds)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the almond meal, flax meal, cinnamon, baking soda, and sea salt, and then whisk in the olive oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.
- Stir in the chopped nuts or seeds.
- Roll the dough into balls (using about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough each) and place on the parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
- Using your fingers, flatten the balls of dough until they are about half an inch thick (they won’t change shape very much in the oven, so try to keep them as round as you can).
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookies are golden brown (the tops of the cookies will not brown much, so make sure you check the cookie bottoms).
- Allow the cookies to completely cool on the cookie sheet before transferring to a paper towel on the counter to absorb excess oil.
Enjoy!!
Megan
xoxo
This recipe is linked to Simple Lives Thursday.
These look so good! They remind me of pecan sandies, my old favorite! I’ll deff give them a try, the ingredients look great
thanks !
Wonderful, I can’t wait to bake these!
Thank you so much for your blog and recipes, you are an encouragement to me
Can’t wait to makes these!! Especially for the Anchorage trips!!
These look so good! That is funny that she loves almonds so much .. but hey it could be worse, right?
These cookies look fabulous, Megan! So happy that you “had” to make them for Abbi so we can enjoy them, too!
xo,
Shirley
Thanks, Shirley!
xo
Megan
These cookies are delicious! Love them! Thanks Megan!
Thank you!!
Oh yum, these look so good. I really need to try harder to provide my children with great tasting, healthy alternatives. I can’t eat wheat, sugar and a whole host of other things but they’ve shown none of the issues I have so I’ve been being lazy. Time to start making things like this! Maybe then I can have some!!
My daughter just started soccer and so I’ll be making a these as a little pre-soccer snack to get her through the later afternoon practice! Thanks for another great recipe Megan!
Hugs,
—Amber
Lots of love from Alaska!!
Megan
This looks so good, but my daughter can’t have the flax meal since she’s on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD.) Do you have any ideas for another egg replacer? She loves your other cookies — the Chocolate chip ones.
Hi Lisa,
Megan
The recipe should be okay if you just left out the flax.
Thanks!
What do you think…could white rice flour work in place of almond meal? It’s what I have til my next shopping trip
Do you think it would work with coconut oil instead of olive?
Yes! Absolutely!