In a family full of people on special diets, I needed to come up with a desert recipe for a group trip that anyone there could eat. Something gluten free, dairy free, low sugar, no chocolate, no peanuts and no almonds. And of course it still had to taste good. This cookie recipe is very adaptable. Ingredients can be substituted pretty much at will to make it fit either the diets of the people who are going to eat it or the availability of ingredients in the cupboard. They look like chocolate cookies, but the dark color comes from buckwheat flour and dates. I brought these cookies (made with sunflower butter, coconut, and craisins) to the family gathering and they were a hit. Even the people not on special diets loved them.
Buckwheat Cookies with Coconut and Craisins
Buckwheat Cookie Ingredients
1 1/4 cup chopped dates or figs
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil if desired
2 eggs
1/2 cup almond butter, peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, or other nut or seed butter of choice
2-3 Tablespoons brown sugar if desired when cookies are not for people with sugar limits
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour (other flours such as sorghum can substitute for the quinoa)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 cups flaked or shredded coconut or 1 cup gluten free oatmeal
1-2 cups any one or combination of the following: craisins, raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or other add-in of choice
Buckwheat Cookie Directions
If you have a blender or food processor that will grind dry grains, it helps to grind the dates prior to adding other ingredients. If you don’t then just skip that step.
Puree dates with applesauce and honey in blender or food processor. Oil too if you are adding any. Blend in eggs. Pour mixture into a mixing bowl.
Add brown sugar (if using any) and nut butter, all flours, salt, vanilla, baking powder and baking soda. Mix together with electric mixer until all ingredients are completely blended.
Stir in coconut or oatmeal and other add in(s) of choice by hand.
Cover bowl and chill in refrigerator for at least half an hour and up two or three days.
Bake cookies on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper in 350 degree oven for 13-15 minutes.
Cruise Stories 
Can I skip peanut butter?
On these cookies you can make substitutes for just about anything. I’ve used almond butter or sunflower seed butter. My mother made them with no nut butters at all, just vegetable oil. So yes, you can skip peanut butter and they turn out fine.
I would try making the recipe with vegetable oil only 🙂
If the Internet could come up with a way for readers to reach into their screens to taste a sample you’ve baked, this post would go viral.
Virtual food, what a concept. It could end world hunger and dishwashing forever.
These cookies are good. I was on the weekemd trip when Lois brought them. I have added chopped pecans to the cokies since my husband likes coolies with nuts.
I’m going to try these with wholemeal flour (wheat flour I think it’s called over there) as I don’t have any of the others. Well, I do have some besan flour and some coconut flour.
You can get buckwheat flour online here so you might want to check the internet for it. It is a specialty flour that works for gluten free diets because in spite of the name it is not really wheat. Buckwheat pancakes have been around for ages though so buckwheat flour was in the mainstream long before gluten was discovered as the cause of a number of people’s digestive issues so you may be able to find it you look in the right places.