Gluten Free Chocolate Chip and Spice Cookies #FoodnFlix

Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla is our host for our monthly film inspiration at Food n Flix.  The idea behind Food n Flix is to watch a movie and gain culinary inspiration from it.  The Taste of Spice, this month's film, was full of wonderful inspiration.  Camilla's summary of the movie is A Touch of Spice is a story about a young Greek boy growing up in Istanbul. His grandfather, a culinary philosopher and mentor, teaches him that both food and life require a little salt to give them flavor. Fanis grows up to become an excellent cook and uses his cooking skills to spice up the lives of those around him. Upon leaving reuniting with his grandfather, three decades later, he realize that his own life need a touch of spice!

I loved this movie but I did find it difficult to rent. I ended up going to my public library and opening an account so I could have access to a wider variety of movies to rent.  That turned out to be a good thing!  For me this movie had a lot of similarities to My Big Fat Greek Wedding (which I loved) and I loved that I recognized some of the elements of Greek film.  In the movie the older Greek men are constantly talking about the "root" word in Greek means....  

The movie had a lot of lovely quotes that I want to remember...

"Cinnamon makes people want to say yes."
"Our lives need salt occasionally."
"Weddings without music are like relationships without arguments."
and my favorite: "Desserts are the epilogue of the fairy tale."

So, I focused on a simple dessert, one that wouldn't take the focus off the main meal, but that a good amount of spice.  I am eating gluten free, so I kept that in mind for these cookies.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip and Spice Cookies

1 1/2 c almond flour
3 packets stevia
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t cream of tartar
2 t Penzey's Cake Spice
1/4 t salt
1/4 c butter, melted
1 t vanilla
1 egg
3 T sugar free chocolate chips

Preheat over to 350.  Line cookie sheet with parchment.  In a medium bowl, mix flour, stevia, baking soda, cream of tartar and cake spice.  In a separate bowl mix together butter, maple syrup, vanilla and egg.  Combine and stir together.  Add chocolate chips and stir.  Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. Scoop 1" balls of dough on the cookie sheet.  Place 2" apart.  Bake for 8 minutes or until the tops are firm and dry.  Remove from oven and cool completely.  

Makes 1 dz cookies

The texture is definitely different, a little "grainy" but a lot like oatmeal cookies.  They are chewy and very satisfying! A quick nutritional calculation shows these cookies at about 100 calories each and 8 carbs (4 are sugar.)  Not bad for a treat!

See the movie, make some spice cookies and come back here and tell me about it.  Join us next month for our Food n Flix movie!