Sattvic Kale Buckwheat and Carrot Cookies

Most bloggers have a certain specialty that they experiment with, perfect, and enjoy.  Ashley has us all captivated with her buckwheat bakes.  Averie makes some tempting no bake delights.  Angela has even created a whole site to green monster smoothies.  I think that I, too have found my muse.  Kale cookies. 

After writing my last post on sattvic eating, these ingredients beckoned me in my refrigerator.  A bit of buckwheat left over from lunch, some gingered kale, and vibrantly beautiful carrots.  My last kale cookies went over well, and so I set myself up for the challenge of making cookies that were completely sattvic in nature.

It was definitely a success -- we devoured them with dinner.

I started the process by cooking 12 leaves of kale in ghee, seasoned with ginger.  Not the most typical way to start making cookies, but I'm not your typical cookie maker.

I used buckwheat in place of most of the flour.  Buckwheat, as a seed, is sattvic, meaning it is pure and life-giving, much like how seeds are the possibilities of life for a plant.  Full of amino acids, minerals, fiber, and protein, buckwheat is perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner...or for adding texture to cookies.  Despite being called "buckwheat," it's actually a lovely gluten/wheat-free food!

 

Why am I so smitten with kale cookies?  I cannot pin-point one specific reason.  Perhaps it's the challenge, the originality, the fun, or the health benefits.  After searching the internet, I couldn't find any recipes for kale cookies, so there's some satisfaction with developing different recipes.  Maybe it's the comfort of making cookies on a rainy day off, filling the kitchen with sweet smells.  In the end, its the eating of them:  sharing them with my husband when we're hungry with the anticipation of dinner, and enjoying them so much that we incorporate them into our meal, and still nosh on them for dessert afterwards.

Sattvic Kale Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups precooked buckwheat groats (Cook 3/4 cup buckwheat in 1 1/2 cups boiling water for 25 minutes, or until soft)
• 12 large kale leaves, cooked in 1 tablespoon ghee and 3 tablespoons water for 10 minutes, seasoned with 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root
• 1/4 cup dried raisins, cranberries, and pumpkin seeds
• 2 large carrots, grated
• 1/4 cup fresh goat's milk yogurt
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon ginger
• 1/2 cup freshly ground buckwheat flour (I put raw buckwheat groats in the blender, 1/4 cup at a time)

Making these cookies is a bit messy in the end, but they turn out delicate and lovely.  Preheat your oven to 325, and grease a baking sheet with ghee.  Have all of your ingredients prepared, mise en place style.  In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, saving the buckwheat flour for last.  It's going to be fun, sticky, and a bit gooey.  Go with it.  Add in the buckwheat flour while stirring, a bit at a time.  Depending on the dryness of your cooked buckwheat groats, you may need more or less flour.  I erred on the less side, and was happy with the results.  Using your hands (they're the best tools in the kitchen!), form cookies a little smaller than your palm.  Bake for 30 minutes, keeping a close eye on them for the last 5 minutes.  If you'd like a crispier cookie, bake for longer.  Enjoy, guilt-free.  Yields about 12.