Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Low Starch Pecan Balls

These are one of my family's favorite Christmas cookies.  Funny little cookies, reminiscent of shortbread, they lack sprinkles and icing.  As a result, little bitty cookie-monsters tend to overlook them, leaving more for the adults and the older kids.  By the time the kid is 7 or 8, they are one of the first cookies to disappear.

You can certainly use regular sugar, as the original recipe does.  They're not supposed to be overly sweet, in our opinion a welcome change from sugar cookies and fudge and peanut blossom cookies (and everything else)!  You can also use regular butter if you don't have to avoid dairy (baking in our house is sooooper fun, hahaha). Take care handling them while they're warm, the lack of eggs makes them a bit crumbly until they cool.



Low Starch Pecan Balls

1/2 cup sweetener equal to 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup margarine (vegan butter)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup flour (can easily substitute all-purpose gluten free flour)
1 cup almond meal
1/8 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups pecans
powdered sugar

1.    Combine first seven ingredients.  Add pecans, mix well.

2.    Roll into 1Tbsp balls, bake at 325 for 20 minutes or until the bottoms are just starting to brown. 

3.    Remove to a cooling rack, let cool completely.  Roll in powdered sugar.  Makes 3 dozen.










Each cookie contains 2.6 grams starch*, and 5 grams carbs**
*assuming wheat flour **assuming low-calorie sweetener