Just a few, from my favorite food blogger. I even surprised my discriminating daughter and son-in-law, who kept reaching for more of both! They've become used to nodding and saying "they're ok" to many of my recipe trials. But this one, they kept saying, "these are really good!"
Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan)
Author: Detoxinista.com
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 24
These chocolate chip cookies are grain-free, egg-free, naturally sweetened and vegan-friendly!
Ingredients
2 cups almond meal, or almond flour
¼ cup coconut oil, softened (non-vegans can use butter)
3 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
¼ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup dark chocolate chips (Barb likes to use Sweet Life brand of mini gluten-free chips)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond meal, salt, and baking soda, then add the coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract and mix well.
Fold in the chocolate chips, then drop batter by rounded tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined with a Silpat, or parchment paper.
Bake at 350F for 8-9 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.
Allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then serve warm or allow to cool to room temperature.
Grain-Free Ginger Cookies
Author: Detoxinista.com
Prep time:
Cook time:
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Serves: 12
Made with protein-rich almond flour and blackstrap molasses, these cookies are surprisingly loaded with iron, calcium, copper, magnesium, and potassium. Naturally sweetened with pure maple syrup, they’re also egg-free and dairy-free! While I prefer my ginger cookies soft and chewy, if you’d like them more crispy, simply increase the baking time and press them into flatter shapes before baking.
Ingredients
1½ cups almond flour
2 Tablespoons coconut oil, softened
¼ cup pure maple syrup
1 Tablespoon blackstrap molasses
2 teaspoons ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl, and mix until a thick batter is formed. Chill the batter for 30 minutes in the fridge, to make sure it’s nice and firm before scooping.
Preheat the oven to 350F and drop the batter by rounded tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined with a Silpat, or parchment paper. Use a wet fork to flatten each dough mound, into your desired cookie thickness.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until firm around the edges, but still soft in the center.
Allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
As I sit here thinking about the last year and what I feel most grateful for, it turns out it's the painful experiences that forced me to stretch and bend and surrender.
Because of them, I'm happier today than I have been in a long time. I feel more aligned with the real me. And I'm blessed to enjoy relationships that are authentic and loving.
When we allow the alchemy of change to occur, we earn the gold.
The key word here is "allow." Over the past year there were certainly times when I tried to resist change and to control the outcome of situations I didn't like. None of it worked. Ultimately I had to let go and trust that God, who is Life Himself, was bringing me exactly what my soul needed to heal and blossom and grow.
And He did...
Every disappointment, every missed opportunity and unfulfilled expectation all created the most beautiful chance to become more of who God wants me to be.
Who would have thought that I'd end up here...
Today, I give thanks for the pain.
(Cheryl Richardson says it well, with some personalization and adaptation on my part, in her Thanksgiving '13 letter)
