Best little vegan delight on our menu...

I recognize that sometimes I'm a bit slow.  OK, really slow but sometimes, that's a good thing!  With my love and need to covet cookbooks, I'd have to stop my day job to keep up with kitchen production,  so that means I often get to re-explore the same cookbook on multiple occasions.  Point taken last month when I re-opened GP's My Father's Daughter cookbook and finally found some barley flour at our local organic store - it was the perfect storm and time to try another "healthy" and vegan version of a classic cookie.  The results are exceptionally favorable, to say the least!

Let's face it, my commitment to eating healthy, losing weight or abiding by my food allergies typically fly out the window the minute anything with sugar comes within arms length.  One has been known to skip the line at the local bakery when only one lemon curd tart remains on the display counter.  But that's ONE, no one, specifically....

Anyway, Lalo's Famous Cookies, or Blythe Danner's version of a thumb print/jam cookie is currently being inhaled at our household.  And I'm not sure what the best thing is: the notion that I feel great after eating them with no side effects from food allergens, the knowledge that they are fairly healthy for me or the fact that they freeze great, so I can pop a bunch of these in the freezer to enjoy everyday!

To all my vegan friends: it's time to celebrate!  Take out your mixing bowl, dust off those cookie sheets and get the hell into the kitchen.  With little ingredients and under an hour, you'll be noshing on these delights!  My husband was on his third one before I broke the bad news to him - these are vegan, luvvy.

He's still eating them....

Ingredients
4 cups barley flour
3 cups raw whole almonds crushed in a food processor (about ten 2-second pulses)
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup canola oil
1 cup real Vermont maple syrup
Your favorite jam (blueberry, raspberry, and apricot are all very nice)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Combine all the ingredients except for the jam together in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Form into tablespoonful balls and space them evenly on cookie sheets. Using your index finger, make an indent in each cookie. Fill each indent with a small spoonful of jam. Bake until the cookies are evenly browned, about 20 minutes. Let cool before eating.

Eat and be merry,