It’s another snowy Sunday morning and a baking urge is coming on.  I love the smell of something baking in the oven, especially when there’s cinnamon involved.  Or bread… hot home made bread is the best!  Fresh brewed coffee with a little treat hot out of the oven.  It’s a great way to begin a leisurely Sunday.  I’ve baked these cookies and have brought them into the office a few times with great success.  The last batch brought on requests to put the recipe on my blog and since sharing always makes food taste better, here’s the recipe.

A bit of hemp heart insight…

First of all, although these cookies taste wonderful, no, you will not have an out of body or mind altering experience when ingesting this wonder food. Hemp hearts are one of nature’s perfect foods.  They’re great for supporting optimal health and well-being.  They help keep you feeling full, reduce inflammation, improve circulation and a host of other health benefits.  I’ve done a bit of research and, although results vary by individual, people who take a minimum recommended dosage of 60-75 ml (4-5 tablespoons) per day, have notice definite changes in their health: weight loss, increased and sustained energy, lowered cholesterol and blood pressure, to name just a few.  The only possible side effect that you may experience is if you have bleeding problems. Hemp hearts have natural anti-coagulation properties and may cause thin blood.  In order to be safe, you can build up to a tolerable level over time.  As with any new food that you may introduce into your diet, try it in smaller amounts to see how your body reacts.

Hemp hearts have a creamy nutty flavour, somewhat like pinenuts, and can be used in anything: soups, salads, raw, or cooked.  I throw a couple of tablespoons in my morning smoothie, or mix into my yogurt and top with whatever fruit is in season.  The increased energy I feel lasts for several hours and keeps me feeling full much longer than your ordinary breakfast cereal.

And now for the recipe

This recipe is so simple that you won’t even have to pull out your electric mixer.  There are very few ingredients and it’s a great recipe to do with your kids.  You can add cranberries, nuts or raisins to this recipe and even play with the spices… add some ginger powder or fresh nutmeg.  Play with the flavours and make the recipe your own.

Hemp Heart Cookies

Ingredients:

310 ml (1 ¼ cup) brown sugar

250 ml (1 cup) butter

3 eggs

175 ml (¾ cup) flour

10 ml (2 teaspoons) cinnamon

10 ml (2 teaspoons) allspice

500 ml (2 cups) hemp hearts

250 ml (1 cup) oatmeal

Instructions:

1.  Melt butter, let cool and mix with brown sugar

2.  Add eggs and mix well

3.  Add remaining ingredient and mix until well blended

  

4.  Drop 18 ml (1 heaping tablespoon) onto parchment lined cookie sheets but not too close to each other as the cookies will spread a bit during cooking

   (cookie batter on a macaron mat above and on parchment paper below)

5.  Bake at 180˚C (350˚F) for 10-12 minutes.  remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire racks.

Just for fun I decided to do a test to see which surface worked best for these cookies.  The first surface was my macaron mat.  This would keep the cookies at a consistent size but I would have to skip every second ring since the cookies mix spreads a bit during the cooking process and I didn’t want them to be too small.

The second was parchment and then the Silpat mat.  They were all baked at the same temperature and for the same time but the results were very different (light, golden brown and a little scorched).

I have to say that I prefer the results from the parchment paper, only because I haven’t mastered Silpat yet and I would either have to reduce the cooking time or lower the temperature.  The macaron mat didn’t brown the bottom and I like that little bit of crispiness around the edges that parchment paper gives the cookies.

Silpat or parchment… or maybe you have non-stick cookie sheets and prefer that?  Whatever the surface, pick up a bag of hemp hearts and I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as I do.

                                                                                                                                   Happy Sunday baking!