Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Make no mistake - it is CRUNCH TIME people. It's already 90 degrees out and I think it's safe to say we're into swimsuit season. How did this happen so quickly?

If you feel like you just can't live without something sweet, make these. These are a big hit in my house every time. If you're not huge on coconut, I think you would be safe leaving it out. As for the coconut flour - I can't really taste it. You could also add nuts to these if you like.

Note: They're going to be a little drier than regular chocolate chip cookies, but in my opinion they are better the next day. I've heard them described as "chewy" but in a good way.

 Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Coconut Flour
• 1/2 Cup Coconut Oil
• 1/2 Cup Raw Honey (or natural sweetener of your choice)
• 4 Omega 3 eggs
• 1/2 Tsp Vanilla extract
• 1/8 Tsp sea salt
• 1/2 Cup of shredded unsweetened coconut
• 3/4 Cup of Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. In a large bowl, combine coconut oil, raw honey, eggs, vanilla extract, and sea salt. (To make your life easier, in a small bowl on the side, combine the raw honey and coconut oil and melt in the microwave before mixing it in)
3. Add in your coconut flour.
4. Stir in the shredded coconut and chocolate chips.
5. On parchment lined baking sheets, drop heaping tablespoons of cookie batter.(Ensure you form them to look like the cookies you want for a final product as these do not rise or spread like conventional cookies, which also means you can place more on a baking sheet without worrying about them touching) 
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Remove from the oven, transfer to a cooling rack and then enjoy with a nice cup of coconut milk.

These are from my favorite - Civilized Caveman! The link to this recipe is RIGHT HERE.

Enjoy!

Xo,
Alyssa

Apple Banana Cookies

I have a friend who can eat apples, but gets sick every time she eats baked apples. True story. Heyyy Corina! 

These were definitely good, but I think next time I'll cut out 2 of the eggs and add 1/2 a cup of raw honey for a little extra sweetness. The "batter" was sweet but the baked version - not as much.

The recipe is from CIVILIZED CAVEMAN. I use a ton of his recipes and they're all great. 

Apple Banana Cookies 

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Chopped Red Apples, skin on
• 1 Banana
• 1 Cup Raw Almonds
• 1 Cup Macadamia Nuts
• 1 Cup Shredded Coconut Unsweetened
• 2 Tbsp Cinnamon
• 2 Tsp Vanilla
• 2 Tsp Coconut Oil (Melted)
• 3 Eggs (I recommend cutting 2 of these out in lieu of 1/2 a cup of raw honey)

Process:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 Degrees
2. Place your almonds and macadamia nuts in your food processor and pulse until they are mixed together and in small chunks
3. Place them in your mixing bowl
4. Next add your apples and banana to your food processor and mix well
5. Transfer that to your mixing bowl with your nuts
6. Now add in your coconut, cinnamon, vanilla, coconut oil, and eggs and mix well using a hand mixer or if your feeling strong use some of that old fashion elbow grease
7. Using a cookie scoop, form your cookie balls on your parchment paper lined cookie sheet
8. Once your sheet is full, flatten your balls into cookie shapes
9. Place in your preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bottom of your cookies are nice and lightly brown
10. Enjoy

A few little technique notes:

 

If you don't have a mini-chopper I definitely recommend buying one. This one was about $10 at Walmart.  I use it all the time because I am far too lazy to actually chop things.

Basically you lazy chop everything and throw it into a bowl. Then blend with a hand mixer - or mix with a big spoon if you need a little arm workout. 

I made little piles on my silicon-lined baking sheet then flattened the piles with my spoon.

{Finished Product}

They are kind of like a snack bar, but packed with good fat and protein, and obviously no grain or added sugar is involved. They're a little carb-happy for me for post-lunch eating, but they will be great as a mid-morning snack. Clearly I'm ob-sessed with hyphens.

The link to the recipe is RIGHT HERE.
If you try these with the raw honey, let me know!

Xo,
Alyssa

Almond Butter Brownies

Ryan is hard to please when it comes to baked goods. If he doesn't love something, I can tell. He looooved these - that's how you know they're DELISH.

The recipe calls for an entire jar of almond butter, which makes these some 'SPENSIVE brownies, but so worth it. The butter vs. flour base keeps them moist for an entire week. It also makes them a little salty-sweet, which is my favorite kind of sweet. They're from Elena's Pantry. Elena is awesome. You can check out her blog here. 

{Almond Butter} Brownies

• 1 (16 ounce) jar creamy roasted almond butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 ¼ cups agave nectar (If you think you'd like them a little sweeter, you may sub 1c raw honey)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup cacao powder
• ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips (I used dairy & soy free Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks)

1. In a large bowl, blend almond butter until smooth with a hand blender
2. Blend in eggs, then blend in agave and vanilla
3. Blend in cacao, salt and baking soda, then fold in chocolate chips
4. Grease a 9x13 inch Pyrex baking dish (I used coconut oil for this)
5. Pour batter into dish
6. Bake at 325° for 35-40 minutes

Makes about 24 brownies (Or if you're us, about 18 because we eat them brick-sized)

The link to this recipe is RIGHT HERE.