Spring in Maine comes slowly and quietly, it is almost invisible. You can see first signs and you hold your breath.

Through winter I tried to create these bright cookies, that would be nutritious and clean - free of sugar and dairy. Fennel with hint of orange is quite traditional combination in Scandinavia and tahini & chickpeas in MidEast, I combined these two and this is the outcome. They are like those spring days when it is summer in the sun, but still winter in shade, lake is frozen but not really, you can hear birds but they are still invisible to the eye … so these cookies are winter but also spring. They are deliciously earthy but bright and as most peeps who tasted them said, very satisfying … try them out, let me know.

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked chickpeas

1/2 cup tahini

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 ts orange extract and zest from one orange

2 ts fennel seeds (crushed in mortar and pestle)

lemon juice (about 2 ts, or to your taste)

- Puree these ingredients in vitamix

1/2 cup wholewheat flour

1/2 cup almond meal

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1/4 ts salt

1/2 ts baking powder, 1/2 ts baking soda

4 oz good quality bittersweet chocolate (chopped)

2 Tbl seame seeds (optional)

Mix together dry ingredients (except chocolate) and add to the wet part, combine well.

Add chocolate. Form small balls and bake on 350 on 11-13 minutes.