Really The Best Cookies

You thought I already had the perfect cookie, the grain free, high protein snack that I give to all my clients and that my son Eli eats for breakfast! Over the past few months, I have been gifted with clients who cannot eat nuts. Time for a nut-free perfect cookie, I did not know that it would turn out to be the best yet! Going for a GORP (good ole' raisins and peanuts) kind of cookie, minus the peanuts of course. When I was pregnant with Chloe I made GORP cookies with whole wheat flour during my third trimester and couldn't get enough. I used to bring them to my childbirth classes and share them with the hungry expectant parents. When you decide to eliminate foods that don't work with your body, a big part of that commitment is overcoming the loss of the tastes you are leaving behind. I have never once felt that loss. In fact, to me it has been a gain in flavor, texture and enjoyment. Now enter that taste memory from before I was a mother. I think these are even better.

What is your favorite taste memory?

Good Ole' Raisin and Sunflower Seed Cookies

1/2 jar tahini (8 oz)

1/2 jar sunflower butter (8 oz)

2 eggs

1 cup palm sugar or sucant

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 Tb vanilla

pinch of sea salt

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

3/4 cup raisins

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or carob chips

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together tahini, sunflower butter, eggs, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and baking soda until smooth. Add in sunflower seeds, raisins and chocolate. Form cookies into a ball about the size of a golf ball and slightly press it down on a baking sheet. These are big cookies, you want to get bites of all the goodies in each one. Bake for 10-12 minutes, allow to cool and store in the refrigerator. When they are cold they come alive!

Thoughts For Tuesday

My heart has been heavy with thoughts of Haiti. Many of us donating what we can, my children dipping into their piggy banks for the public school collection of $1 per child. IIN, my school of change and hope, offering to match any alumni donation to the red cross. I am touched by the swift movement of our country in times like these. Please visit Erin Goodman's blog for a chance to win 2 months of e-mail health counseling sessions with yours truly. It is so fun to have a give-away and perhaps help change someone's life for the better.

Lucas discovered coconut cream, the stuff on the top of the coconut milk if you do not shake it! He could not stop, by the end looked like a snowman, glistening in white.

Finally, my high protein, favorite cookies, turned into an ice cream sandwich with coconut milk ice cream. I made these cookies on Saturday and mentioned to my husband how happy I was to have them in the house again. His reply, "That whole week and half without them was rough, huh?" With boys who eat like my two, this high protein cookie is a winner. I use any nut butter I have, Chloe prefers peanut butter, Eli cashew butter and for a more elegant, slightly thinner version, almond butter is nice. I discovered using nut butters instead of flour with this lovely brownie and have never looked back.

High Protein Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 jar nut butter 2 eggs 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 1/4 cup palm sugar 1/2 (or more) of dark chocolate chips 1 TB vanilla

So simple, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the dough on the sheet in TB sized scoops. Gently pat each one down a bit. Dough will be sticky. Cook for 8-10 minutes. They will continue cooking when you take them out so err on the side of looking a bit under done. These cookies must cool before moving, or you will have crumbs. Sometimes when we can't wait we go for crumbs on the first batch!

When we make these with peanut butter, we use tsp sized scoops, making a smaller cookie. They tend to be more moist when made smaller. When making these for ice cream sandwiches you want to make sure they do not get too crispy. Cook them on the shorter side, allow to cool really well and then carefully put softened ice cream on the underside of one cookie. Gently place another cookie on the top, wrap in parchment paper or put in a glass container into the freezer. Makes a great birthday party treat for kids or me!

Cookies Among Organized Chaos

We are truly wrapped in December and all that it brings us each year. This year the horses on the parkway had no snow under their feet, it wasn't to come until the next day, covering our neighborhood in a white playground.

We decided as a family not to purchase any wrapping paper and are re-purposing and finding clever ways to use things we have around. Patrick kicked off the wrapping using some Whole Foods paper bags and the kids loved watching him decorate their names in clever ways, all the while trying to guess what was inside. We have lots of gift bags saved from presents years past, tissue paper that always gets saved and material that we will use for our other gifts.

I looked over at the kids this morning to realize that they were all dressed in Christmas red and how fun it would be to capture a picture of them under the tree.

You know that transition between laughter and crying that feels so good? It doesn't allow for Christmas pictures no matter how cheery the color red.

Thank goodness for cookies, gluten free and melt in your mouth. We made them for all the teachers and a great grandfather (via the mail). I used my standard chocolate chip recipe and added a bit of Holiday flavor inspired by these delights!

Ginger Chocolate Bites

1 jar cashew butter 2 eggs 1 1/4 cup of palm sugar 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2-1 cup chocolate chips

To turn gingery I added:

2 tsp powdered ginger 2 Tb finely grated ginger root 1/4 cup plus 1 Tb molasses zest from one lemon

Mix it all together, place small tsp sized balls onto cookie sheet. Bake in 350 degree oven for 7-10 minutes. The cookies will puff up and crack as they bake. Allow to cool and store in the fridge for best results.