No-Grain, Low-Carb, Chocolate Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

4 eggs (the recipe turns out fine with 2 eggs but
             the more fat and protein, the merrier)
1 stick of butter, softened
½ cup almond butter (or a second stick of butter)
1/3 cup rapadura or turbinado (or ¾ cup maple syrup)
½ cup flax seeds or flax meal (optional)

Either by hand or with a mixer, mix the above ingredients well.

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup almond meal
¾ cup coconut flour
1 t salt
1 t vanilla
1 t baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips and/or nuts of choice (optional)

Mix in the second group of ingredients by hand or with a mixer until the batter is homogeneous and fairly stiff. If you’re using nuts or chocolate chips, stir them in last by hand.

With wet hands so the batter won’t stick, shape into balls and place on a cookie tray lined with parchment or a no-stick baking sheet. Flatten the balls to ¼ inch thick. The cookies will not flatten or spread as they bake. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies begin to darken slightly around the edges. Allow cookies to cool 5- 10 minutes before removing them from the tray.

 

Crispy Nuts

Pour 1 pound of raw nuts or seeds into a medium size glass bowl.

Add 2 T unbleached salt

Cover the nuts and salt with filtered water so that there is about an inch of water above the nuts.

Allow the nuts to soak for at least 8 hours or overnight.

After the nuts have soaked, pour off the water and rinse the nuts.

Spread on a cookie sheet and place in oven on low. If your oven will stay at 150 degrees leave the nuts at 150 for 12-24 hours or until they are crispy.

OR Spread the nuts on a food dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 115 degrees for 12-24 hours.

Grain-free Blueberry Muffins

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

6 eggs

1/3 cup maple syrup

6 Tablespoons butter, softened

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12-15 muffin tins with reusable plastic muffin tin liners or paper liners. In a large mixing bowl combine eggs, maple syrup, softened butter and vanilla. Blend well with a hand mixer. In a separate, small bowl combine coconut flour, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mix well with a hand mixer. Gently fold in blueberries. Spoon batter into muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Cool and serve.

This recipe makes a lovely chocolate cookie that doesn't need chocolate chips. I usually make a tray without chips for grown-ups and add chips to the rest of the batter for the kids. Keeping the chocolate chips out or using nuts instead keeps the carbs much lower.


If you leave out the cocoa, the recipe makes a wonderful traditional chocolate chip cookie, which I also make with and without chocolate chips.


For an added treat, I like to use these chocolate cookies to scoop heaps of freshly whipped cream. I savor every bite and know that I am providing my body necessary fat to fuel my recovery. (So I can go hit that PR tomorrow!)


I like to use eggs produced locally by free-ranging hens, and butter from cows that are pasture raised for a better omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio.

In Tucson I buy coconut flour and bulk rapadura at The Food Conspiracy Co-op on 4th Ave. They also carry pasture-raised butter. Coconut flour can also be purchased at Whole Foods.

Trader Joe's carries pasture-raised butter, almond butter, flax meal and almond meal.




Fresh whipped cream...
sweetened, if you'd like, with a bit of maple syrup and topped with berries and/or nuts is a quick, easy dessert that is so nourishing you can almost feel your cells drink it in. To prepare, pour a one pint carton of heavy whipping cream and one tablespoon of maple syrup into a bowl. Whip with an electric mixer or a wire whisk until stiff peaks form. Alternately, pour the cream and syrup in a quart-sized jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake it up until it is firm. Spoon it into a bowl and serve with fresh or frozen berries, crispy nuts or chocolate cookies from the recipe above. Enjoy!


Can a bowlful of little more than saturated fat be healthy? Yes,
according to Gary Taubes, Science writer for New York Times Magazine,
in his 2002 article "What if It's All Been a Big, Fat Lie?"










Warning: my kids can easily and happily sit down
and eat all 15 muffins in one sitting if I let them.
I highly recommend making a double batch.


My boys convinced me to try this recipe with
chocolate chips rather than blueberries.
It was awesome.