Quinoa dates cookies/Thinai dates cookies/Foxtail Millet and Dates Cookies

Millet cookies which are available at our local supermarkets in Chennai never fail to attract us and my son likes the taste of these cookies too.As I didn't have an oven before I never even had an idea to give it a try but after buying an oven and having tried few other cookies I wanted to try millet cookies at home and few months back, my blogger friend Jayanthi Sindhiya posted a recipe on millet cookies which kindled my curiosity to bake these cookies.Finally I got millet flour from the shop and baked these goodies.The outcome was soft (cake like)quinoa or foxtail millet cookies which we all relished a lot.As I added dates purée the cookies were soft but very tasty and definitely worth a try.Kids who detest dates too will love these cookies and these cookies are gluten free and could be made as vegan too by adding oil instead of butter .

Ingredients:

Organic quinoa flour/Thinai flour/foxtail millet flour-1 and 1/2 cups

Dates-10 to 12 no

Sugar-8 tbsp

Butter-5 tbsp

Baking soda-1/2 tsp

Coarsely powdered almonds/almond meal-1/4 cup

Vanilla extract-1 tsp

Few almonds-for garnish

Procedure :

1.Soak the dates in hot water and grind it to a coarse paste adding as little water as possible. .

2.In a bowl sieve together the Foxtail millet flour(Thinai Mavu ) and baking soda .

3. In another bowl add butter,powdered sugar and dates paste.

4,To this date mixture add vanilla extract also and mix well .

5.To this wet mixture add the millet flour and powdered almonds or almond meal.

6.Bring them together to form a cookie dough and make small balls.Flatten them a little on the greased baking cookie tray ,decorate it with an almond in middle and bake them at 200 C for 20-25 mins .

7.After baking ,cool them for few minutes and transfer them to an airtight container.It can be stored for up to a week.Yummy and delicous Quinoa Dates Cookies are ready.Enjoy them with a cup of tea or coffee.

Tips:

*For more firm or crisp cookies add more butter.

*Increase the quantity of sugar if you have a sweet tooth.But keep in mind that even dates are sweeter.