Grain-Free Chocolate-Coconut Kiss Cookies

As part of my Influenster #jadorevoxbox, I was given a family size bag of Hershey's Kisses to try and enjoy.  Let me repeat that: a FAMILY sized bag.  That's a lot of kisses for one girl - especially one girl who's trying to be conscious of her eating habits.  I prefer eating primal/paleo most of the time, but I don't mind the occasional splurge, so I came up with this recipe for chocolate cookies that use mostly primal friendly ingredients.  Of course, the Kisses aren't, but if you don't mind the splurge, go for it!

These cookies are rich, and sweet, and irresistible!

Ingredients:

• 2 oz chocolate (I used Kisses, you can experiment with other milk/dark/bittersweet chocolate)
• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 18 Hershey Kisses (or more/less depending on how many cookies you get out of your batch)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350.
2. Melt 2 oz of chocolate either in the microwave or over a double-boiler.
3. To the base of a food processor add almond flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and coconut sugar.  Pulse together until well blended.
4. Add cubed butter.  Mix until dough is crumbly.
5. Add eggs, vanilla, and melted chocolate.  Mix until smooth and fully incorporated.
6. Pulse in coconut flakes.
7. Drop by tablespoon-full onto a parchment- or silpat-lined baking sheet (note: I ran out of parchment so I used foil that was greased with coconut oil).  They will spread quite a bit while baking, so make sure you leave enough space around each cookie.  I fit 9 on an oversized cookie sheet.  Press a Hershey Kiss into the top of each cookie.  
8. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until set.  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.  They'll still be soft, but will firm up out of the oven.

These were pretty darn delicious.  Everyone who tried one gave me lots of compliments, and didn't even realize that they were made with my "crazy" ingredients! Love when that happens.

** Note: I do have process photos of all the steps, so if you need them, feel free to leave a note in the comments.  I'm not sure that they add much to the recipe, because it's all pretty straight forward.  But let me know if you need help with any of the steps!

Almond Butter Cookies: Recipe Fail, and then Fix!

My husband and I have removed all "temptation foods" out of the house, and we only have real food left - which is great!  Except when it comes to snacks.  Sometimes you just need something to munch on in between meals.  So, I searched the pinterest archive and decided to make some almond butter cookies.  I started with this recipe, but made a few modifications, and cut it in half.  The result was a delicious, but incredibly spread out, thin cookie.  (Fail!)

So then I decided to add some almond flour, because the taste was definitely good, and voila, rescued cookies!  I will come back and edit this recipe in time, but for now, just keep an eye on the consistency of the cookies after you add the almond flour.  I imagine it will probably take about a quarter cup after all is said and done.  I added about 3.5 tbsp to half the recipe.

Batter with almond flour added

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 4-5 tbsp almond flour

Method:

Unbaked cookies on sheet

1. Preheat the oven to 350.  Combine the almond butter, honey, syrup and vanilla until well mixed.

2. Add in the egg, baking soda,  and cinnamon.

3. Add in the almond flour, paying attention to the consistency of the batter - it should be still somewhat liquidy, but firm.

4. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper, and drop batter by the spoonful onto the sheet.  The cookies will still spread, so try not to put them too close together.

The result will be a light & fluffy, sweet & delicious almond-y cookie!

Cookies fully baked

One note about these cookies: I'm not sure if it's because I live in Florida and it's more humid here than what I'm used to, but these turned really mushy the next morning.  It helped to store them in the fridge, and then pop them in the toaster oven for 2-5 minutes at 250 degrees before serving.  Back to normal!

Let me know if you try this recipe, and leave your hints and tips in the comments!

Peppermint Pinwheels!

This was a I have too much on my mind so I need to bake cookie. They are super yummy with a nice crisp. They make super cute gifts too. I ended up being up way too late to get them done so keep in mind that the dough sits for about 4 hours. The longer you let dough set the nicer the cookies will turn out.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 teaspoon red food coloring& 1 teaspoon pink food coloring

Now you can just about do any color combo you like depending what holiday you are looking to make the cookies for. I am going to try to do a black and white version next.

Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

Directions

Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together in another large bowl. Add egg and beat until incorporated. Add the vanilla and peppermint extract. Gradually add the dry mixture, beating until combined. Remove half of the mixture from the bowl. Add food coloring, beating until fully combined. In waxed paper, roll out dough to form a large rectangle, about 1/4-inch thick. Repeat this step with the other half with the other color. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Tear out 1 sheet of waxed or parchment paper. Sprinkle the surface of the paper with powdered sugar to prevent sticking. Very carefully, slide the red dough on top of the pink dough. Trim edges if uneven and patch if necessary. Roll dough into a log, creating a swirl effect. Place the dough back in the refrigerator and let chill for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Slice the dough into 1/2-inch slices and place on a parchment lined sheet tray about 1-inch apart.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

*********

If you want to have a bit of extra fun with them add lollipop sticks.

Place lollipop stick about 1-inch through the flat side of the dough before baking. :D

Health Cookies

I just made these cookies for the first time and mmm mmm good! I can't stop eating them!! They seem to have a lot of ingredients, but that's part of their charm. And because it's pretty much all good stuff, you don't feel bad if you have two, or three, or seven of them ;)

Health Cookies

½ cup butter
½ cup apple sauce
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup ground flax seeds

Cream together the butter, apple sauce and sugar, add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth, add flax seeds and mix.

Add and mix in:
2 cups whole wheat flour (or just a bit less)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
(Can sift these together if you wish)

Add and mix in:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup coconut
1 cup granola type cereal
½ cup raisins
½ cup cranberries
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup nuts (I chopped up almonds and peanuts)
½ cup unsalted sunflower seeds
½ cup pumpkin seeds

Mix all together so everything is blended together.  Spoon out batter onto un-greased cookie sheets (or use parchment paper) and bake for 12-14 minutes at 325 degrees.  They come off the cookie sheet best if you allow them to cool for about 2 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Yields about 36 cookies.