Cashew Lavender Orange Cookies

These cashew lavender orange combination blends beautifully into these aromatic cookies that are delicate & sweet, perfect with tea. They are gluten-free, vegan and sugar-free optionally. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour blend
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar of choice or a sugar substitute such as ¨Swerve¨
• 1 cup creamy cashew butter made with the NutraMilk
• 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoons water) or 1 regular egg
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 -3 drops essential lavender oil
• 1 tsp dried edible lavender buds

For cashew butter

• 2 cups (300g) cashews
• 1/8 teaspoon Pink Himalayan salt (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Start by making cashew butter
  • Place cashews and salt in the NutraMilk container.
  • Press Butter cycle, set for 5-6 minutes.
  • Press Start.
  • Open the container lid.
  • If necessary, set for an additional 1-2 minutes for a creamier butter.

• Preheat oven to 325F. Move the rack to the middle of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with a Silpat non-stick mat or parchment paper.
• Prep your flax egg and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
• Add the cashew butter, sugar, flour, and flax egg to a large mixing bowl. Using an electric hand mixer on low speed, mix until combined.

• Roll the batter into balls in to the size you want. Use a fork to press them down a bit (make a criss-cross pattern). Space them about an inch apart since they do spread a bit. I made different sizes - I made these below plus some smaller bite-size cookies that are accompaniment for tea.

• Bake the cookies for 18-20 minutes.
• The cookies will likely seem too soft when you take them out of the oven, but that's ok. They will firm up as they cool. Carefully remove them from the baking sheet and let them cool on a cooling rack. Sprinkle lavender buds and more orange zest if you like.
• Store cookies in an airtight container as soon as they've cooled. Their final texture is slightly crumbly when you bite into it, but soft and chewy inside.

Prepared and photographed by NutraMilk nutritionist, Florencia Tagliavini.