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    Home » Recipes » Cutout Cookies

    Spicy Cocoa Bites

    Published: Jan 30, 2015 · Modified: May 15, 2019 by Audrey · This post may contain affiliate links · 11 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    Gluten-Free Vegan Spicy Cocoa Bites {Refined Sugar-Free}

    So people have been commenting on how I'm on a cut-out cookies {or cookies in general} roll lately, and I have to say that admittedly I totally am! Once you get started with these, it becomes totally addictive! So many options, and they are all so good. While making one batch, I'm already thinking of another! {Does that ever happen to you with cooking/baking?}

    Gluten-Free Vegan Spicy Cocoa Bites {Refined Sugar-Free}

    So, while I was making a batch of these ginger thins, it occurred to me that gluten-free vegan spicy cocoa bites are the next logical step! If you like a cookie with a little spiced up kick, these will definitely make you happy! {And if you're not a fan of spicy chocolate treats, simply keep the spices out and enjoy some lovely cocoa bites instead ;) }.

    Gluten-Free Vegan Spicy Cocoa Bites {Refined Sugar-Free}

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    Spicy Cocoa Bites

    Print Recipe

    ★★★★★

    5 from 1 reviews

    Adorable heart shaped gluten-free chocolate cookies with a spicy kick. Vegan, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free.

    • Author: Audrey @ Unconventional Baker
    • Prep Time: 15 minutes
    • Cook Time: 6 minutes
    • Total Time: 21 minutes
    • Yield: approx 60 1" cookies {1 cookie sheet's worth}
    • Category: Cookies
    • Method: Baked
    • Cuisine: Dessert

    Ingredients

    • ¼ cup non-dairy butter, at room temperature OR coconut oil, softened
    • ¼ cup maple syrup
    • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
    • 1 cup + 2 tbsp of my gluten-free flour blend {combine: ½ cup brown rice flour, 6 tablespoon tapioca starch, ¼ cup sweet rice flour, ¼ teaspoon guar gum} {or if using a store-bought blend, I highly recommend Pamela's Artisan Flour Blend}
    • ¼ cup cocoa powder
    • 1 tbsp non-dairy milk or water
    • 1 tsp of each of the following spices: ground ginger, cayenne pepper, cinnamon
    • ½ tsp chili powder
    • ¼ tsp nutmeg
    • ⅛ tsp of each of the following spices: ground black pepper, cloves

    Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Prepare a rolling area with two additional sheets of parchment paper for that, and have your small cookie cutter(s) handy.
    2. Place butter in a large mixing bowl and whip it with a mixer until it's creamy. Add sweetener and vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add in all remaining ingredients and use a wooden spoon to mix. Then get in there with your hands and mix everything together by working the dough until you can shape it into a ball {note: as depending on the flour mix you use there may be a slight variance, know that the consistency of the dough should not be sticky but should press together when pinched -- be sure to knead it really well first for some time -- and then if it's a little sticky, add a little more flour (try 1-2 tbsp); if it's a little dry add a little more non-dairy milk or water (try 1 tbsp)}. Shape the dough into 2 balls and then flatten each into a disk.
    3. Roll out one of the dough balls between two sheets of parchment paper to ⅛" thickness {the thinner you roll them out, the crispier they'll be; just don't make them so thin you can't transfer them ;) }. Use a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Carefully transfer to a prepared cookie sheets, spacing them ½" apart {they won't spread as they bake}. Gather up any dough scraps and repeat until all dough is used up. Repeat the process with the second dough ball.
    4. Bake in a pre-heated oven for approximately 6 minutes, until the edges just begin to become golden. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. {Note: cookies will harden a little within minutes of cooling, so don't overbake}. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes and enjoy!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Jen says

      August 09, 2019 at 10:43 pm

      Have you ever tried freezing it?

      Reply
      • Audrey says

        August 29, 2019 at 2:14 pm

        Hi Jen, I don't normally freeze cookies, as they're usually best fresh. That said, I don't see a problem with giving that a try if you need them frozen for some reason.

        Reply
    2. Dorothea says

      September 23, 2015 at 6:16 am

      Hello, I'm so happy to have found this great resource of your website/ blog. It's a huge treasure. Thank you for sharing all your produce of experimenting countless times....

      I don't get here the flour mix you recommend in the recipe above so I mixed the one you wrote down, only I can not get the sweet rice flour, I substitute that with chestnut flour and lupine flour...

      Reply
      • Audrey says

        September 26, 2015 at 1:07 am

        Thank you Dorothea! :)

        Did you end up trying it with the chestnut or lupine flours? I'm very curious to hear how they turned out!

        Reply
        • dorothea says

          September 26, 2015 at 1:59 am

          Yes I did try this recipe above and the cinnamon bunnies, the later ones turned out a bit hard but this was the sweetener I used, maple syrup is very expensive here so I used brown rice syrup, but that has the consistency of honey and I guess that was why the turned out a bit hard... anyway they were all gone in a couple of days ;) the chestnut flour adds sweetness and the lupinflour color, as it is yellow the cookies look like there has to be an egg in.

          In this recipe above I used dates syrup because here the dark color doesn't matter and it tastes a bit kind of molasses this blended great with the spices. They were softer and the dough was more workable.

          So in the end you see I had to change a lot because of missing ingredients and I hope this can be such an inspiration as your great blog is for me.

          Would be cool to meet and bake together!

          ★★★★★

          Reply
          • Audrey says

            October 05, 2015 at 2:15 am

            Aw, I'm so happy it worked out with those substitutions then, Dorothea. I've been curious about lupine flour for a while now. I tried some lupine cookies while traveling in Australia, but here lupine flour is pretty uncommon. I think perhaps because it is related to peanuts and so many people in North America are allergic? Anyways, I have no idea why, but it's not easy to find. I'd still love to experiment with it some day though -- you're right about the yellow flour making the cookies look egg-like. That is a good addition -- I like your thinking :)

            Enjoy the recipes and do share any changes you make -- I love getting new ideas or just hearing how it went for people and what ingredients worked and which didn't.

            Reply
    3. swathi says

      February 09, 2015 at 2:32 pm

      Looks delicious, thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop pinning.

      Reply
      • Audrey says

        February 11, 2015 at 12:02 am

        Thank you, Swathi! :)

        Reply
      • Audrey says

        February 11, 2015 at 12:02 am

        Thanks for stopping by, Swathi! :)

        Reply
    4. Christina @ The Beautiful Balance says

      January 31, 2015 at 4:02 pm

      That happens to me ALL the time and usually causes me to start more than one recipe at a time just to satisfy the urge to make another. These look incredible and I love that you threw in chili powder into the mix that has to be amazing with the chocolate!

      Reply
      • Audrey says

        February 02, 2015 at 11:51 pm

        Thanks Christina -- glad to know I'm not the only one :). The chili and cayenne were so good in these chocolate cookies. I had a hard time not eating all the cookie dough before it made it into the oven... ;)

        Reply

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