From the archives: We couldn’t let National Celiac Awareness Month go by without some chewy chocolatey baked goods! This sumptuous recipe, adapted from the Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam, offers a heap of cocoa powder, offset with sweet agave nectar. This recipe book offers a vast array of delicious, gluten-free recipes, but it is not a vegan cookbook so, like with many cookbooks, we have to adapt. Luckily, most of the recipes simply call for eggs which can be replaced with Ener-g vegan egg replacer or another egg replacer.

As this recipe was first in honor of National Celiac Awareness month, and not everyone who is gluten-free has Celiac disease, according to the Celiac Foundation, “Celiac disease is a serious autoimmune disease that occurs in genetically predisposed people where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine. It is estimated to affect 1 in 100 people worldwide, but only about 30% are properly diagnosed.

When people with celiac disease eat gluten (a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley), their body mounts an immune response that attacks the small intestine. These attacks lead to damage on the villi, small fingerlike projections that line the small intestine, that promote nutrient absorption. When the villi get damaged, nutrients cannot be absorbed properly into the body.

Celiac disease is hereditary, meaning that it runs in families. People with a first-degree relative with celiac disease (parent, child, sibling) have a 1 in 10 risk of developing celiac disease. Celiac disease can develop at any age after people start consuming gluten. Left untreated, celiac disease can lead to additional serious health problems.’

Vegan, Gluten-Free Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Originally posted 2012-05-29 04:14:37.