Gluten-free dairy-free milk and cookies

Sounds ridiculous? Nuts are nutritionally similar to milk, and an egg is a sufficient binder to allow them to replace flour as well (not with the same texture, but like a scone or cornmeal muffin). You could also make a vegan but glutinous version by throwing in some flour and substituting the egg with a banana. If you wanted it totally vegan AND gluten-free, there are specialized egg replacers and gluten-free flours available to experiment with, but my general rule is I don't write recipes that require expensive and specific products. I don't want to buy them, and others might not be able to find the particular brand of something, which tends to matter in the gluten-free world.


Without further ado:

Ingredients:

1 cup almonds

4 cups water

2 x 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp + 2 Tbsp honey

1 egg

2 Tbsp oil

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Equipment:

Blender

Large piece of cloth or fine-meshed strainer

Cookie sheet

Mixing bowls & fork

Procedure:

Soak almonds overnight and discard soaking water. Add soaked almonds and fresh water to a blender and blend at high speed for 1-2 minutes. Strain into a jar, squeeze out the pulp thoroughly, and set aside. Stir 1 Tbsp of honey and 1/2 tsp vanilla into the milk (these are optional and the milk is fine without, but in my opinion they make it significantly tastier).

Spread the reserved almond pulp across a cookie sheet and leave in the oven on low heat until dry. You may have to check a few times and break up damp clumps. When the almond grounds are ready, remove from cookie sheet and preheat oven to 375 F. Mix baking powder and salt with almond grounds. In a separate bowl, mix 2 Tbsp honey, 1/2 tsp vanilla, oil, and egg. Add dry ingredients to wet. Form the mixture into 8 patties and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes. The cookies are best after they have cooled slightly.

Pair 2 cookies with 1 cup of milk for a yield of 4 servings, or use them separately. I don't have a good way of determining how many calories go into the milk vs. stay in the pulp, but assuming it's half and half, the milk is 115 calories per 8 oz and the cookies are 105 calories each, for a total of 325 calories per serving when combined as suggested (a rather large snack, or add some fruit for a nice breakfast).