I discovered this gem when looking for recipes to use up leftover seeds/millet etc. when moving from Sydney back to WA late last year. The darn quarantine laws had us looking at throwing out roughly $100 of perfectly adequate nuts and the like. As if that was going to happen! It was a brilliant challenge to find various ways of using up the remaining items, and also reinforced the ethos behind tastewithoutwaste. Why, it would have been purely hypocritical to allow such food to find its way into the trash! These cookies were a particular success story, and have been made many a time over the past year, only to be gobbled up in a matter of moments.

With a crisp outer edge that gives way to a crumbly interior (yet not so crumbly as to be awkward to eat), and packed full of ‘bits’ they’re brilliant snacking material. The coconut oil (a bit exxy, but a worthy investment) permeates through the cookie, amplifying the nutty ‘golden’ flavour. In regards to the seeds, the name says it all – sunflower, sesame, chia, pumpkin and flaxseeds result in one nutrient – and protein – packed morsel! Millet is another ancient grain (in the most simplest terms think quinoa, but not quinoa) that, when raw, acts in a similar manner to the seeds. Rolled spelt (found in most health food stores and some large supermarkets) and oats beef the cookies up, providing a slow release of energy. Substitute bog-standard whole-wheat flour for the spelt flour if you’re unable to source it, however (as with the rolled spelt) it can be found in the health food aisle of many supermarkets. Yes, they do contain sugar, however it’s on the minimal side and what cookie doesn’t’ need a little sweetness? Real talk, people.

Enough rambling about the brilliance of these gems – hang around a few more moments for a two super important tips! Both relate to time – these aren’t the kind of cookie you whip together in half an hour just before the guests arrive. A shame? Not really – they taste so darn good that you’ll forget the extra time with that first mouthful. For that extra nutty flavour, the seeds must be toasted, so allow 15 minutes for that, along with a wee bit of cooling. And secondly, the dough needs to rest for roughly 20 minutes if you want to avoid it falling apart in a messy disaster when you’re trying to shape it into cookies! We can’t have that, can we?

5 Super Seeds Cookies
Makes about 19 cookies

Ingredients
¼ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup sesame seeds
¼ cup millet
¼ cup chia seeds plus 1 tbsp extra
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1 tbsp flaxseed
6 tbsp milk – any will work, however I prefer skim or almond milk
¾ cup spelt flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup rolled spelt
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup coconut oil, melted
Scant 1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method
Preheat the oven to 160C. Grease and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Place the seeds on a third baking tray and toast in the oven for 5 minutes. Toss the seeds by shaking the pan and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes or until golden. Set the pan on a wire rack and leave the seeds to cool slightly.

Turn the oven up to 180C.

Whisk together the 1 tbsp of chia seed and the milk in a medium sized bowl or jug. Leave to ‘set’ for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, rolled spelt, rolled oats and toasted seeds to a large bowl. Stir to combine thoroughly. Make a well in the centre.

To the chia seed mixture, add the melted coconut oil, sugar and vanilla essence. Whisk well to combine.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture, all at once. Stir until no flour remains visible. Leave the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

Take a tablespoonful of the mixture and use wet palms to pat it into a rough spherical shape. Place on a prepared cookie sheet and repeat with the remaining mixture, leaving about 2cm between each cookie.

Bake for approximately 12 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Set the pans on a wire rack and leave the cookies to cool completely on the pan.

Can be kept for up to a week, if stored in an airtight container in a cool dry place. Also suitable to freeze.

Source: Adapted from Bueno Vida

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