Chocolate and Orange Cookies for Diabetics
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Why is baking for diabetics tricky?
There are lots of recipes out there for diabetics. But some things in particular are very difficult to find, for example, roll out cookie dough that can be used to make shapes and themed items, or something which sets to use to write or draw on cakes in the place of very sweet icing. In this hub I will share my made up recipe for a roll-out cookie dough using family favourite flavours, chocolate and orange.
Chocolate, orange and cinnamon cookies
One recipe I found to be completely lacking in a Google search on diabetic treats is a roll-out crisp cookie dough. This kind of dough, like the kind used to make gingerbread or shortbread, is the only kind which can be easily shaped into themed biscuits that suit a person's interests. In the past I made a lot of gingerbread and had purchased a lot of cookie cutters in themed shapes according to family hobbies or jokes and I was sad to be unable to use these. However gingerbread is usually made using both brown sugar and a treacle or golden syrup, and a white flour, all high GI no-nos for diabetics. My first attempt at a diabetic-friendly gingerbread resulted in puffing up and bland-ness. However I recently invented this recipe for Father's Day and it was a hit. Although it isn't a gingerbread, I plan to experiment in future with spicy flavourings that might achieve a similar taste. In these cookies I used favourite flavour combinations of Dad's, chocolate and orange, along with GI-lowering oat bran (Tapola, Karvonen, Niskanen, Mikola, & Sarkkinen, 2005) and cinnamon which also assists with lowering cholesterol (Khan, Safdar, Khan, Khattak, & Anderson, 2003). Dad is a big Doctor Who fan, so I used a dalek cookie stamp bought from Etsy to stamp daleks onto star-shaped cookies and cut out my own TARDIS, drawing on the details by imprinting with a toothpick. I also used a normal gingerbread man cutter and imprinted a bow tie and jacket to make my little man resemble Matt Smith's Doctor. Personal details like this on cookies are relatively easy to do and turn any roll-out dough into something a friend or family member really appreciates as a thoughtful gift.
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain wholemeal flour
- 1.5 cups oat bran
- 4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 tblsp margarine or olive oil spread
- 2 tblsp raw honey
- grated rind of 1 orange
- juice of 1/2 an orange
- 1/2 tsp lemon essence
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (e.g., Bournville)
Chocolate orange and cinnamon cookies method
- Cream margarine or olive oil spread and honey together.
- Add cinnamon and cocoa and mix well
- Add remaining dry ingredients and mix into a stiff dough
- Roll out onto a floured surface and cut into desired shapes. Nuts or dried orange pieces could be pressed into the tops at this point if desired.
- Lay cookies on a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray and bake at 180 degrees Celsius until edges are slightly browned (approx 15 min). Place on a cooling rack or the top of the oven until cooled and crisp, then store in an airtight container.
Completed chocolate orange and cinnamon cookies packaged as a Doctor Who themed Fathers Day gift.
References
Khan, lam, Safdar, Mahpara , Khan, Mohammad Muzaffar Ali , Khattak, Khan Nawaz , & Anderson, Richard A. . (2003). Cinnamon Improves Glucose and Lipids of People With Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care, 26, 3215-3218.
Tapola, N., Karvonen, H., Niskanen, L., Mikola, M., & Sarkkinen, E. (2005). Glycemic responses of oat bran products in type 2 diabetic patients. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis, 15(4), 255-261. doi: 10.1016/j.numecd.2004.09.003
