Saturday, April 6, 2013

Nut Bar Cookies

I've been making these cookies for about a year. My friend Christine gave me the recipe and it is ridiculously simple. She was going gluten free and these cookies satisfied the need that she often felt for traditional cookies. Me? I just think they're delicious and have no plans to go gluten free.

Nut Bar Cookies


2 cups almond meal/flour *
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg

Mix all of the above in a bowl until well combined. It will seem like 1 egg is not enough "wet" to incorporate all the "dry", but just keep mixing. It will happen.

Press into a very well greased 11 x 7 pan. If you don't have that size pan, you can use a square pan. It may take a few more minutes to cook.

Bake at 350 for 15 - 20 minutes. At this point, you need to carefully cut the bars into the size desired. But be very careful to NOT try to remove the bars from the pan. That can only be done after it is completely cool.



Fresh from the oven and cut into small squares.


Cut and ready to be eaten!

Almond flour or almond meal is readily available, usually in the health food section of your grocery store. I often make this recipe with other nut flours. The cookies in these photos were made with a combination of hazelnut flour and pistachio flour, hence the green tint.

I found a great source for these alternative flours at nuts.com I've purchased yummy pecan meal in addition to the almond, hazelnut and pistachio. I find that I prefer the cookies with one type of flour, as opposed to combining as I did in this particular batch. While you're shopping there, have a look at their dried fruits too.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Oak Leaf and Acorns

Recently listed in my etsy shop, this necklace is one-of-a-kind. I drew an oak leaf outline on copper sheet, sawed it out, textured it with a leaf pattern and oxidized it to highlight the pattern. The center rib is oxidized brass that I riveted (with handmade rivets) to the leaf. It looked a bit lonely, so I added some brass acorns dangling alongside.


The leaf is fairly large, so it needed a long chain for visual balance. You can see some more photos of it here.