Guilt-Free Friday: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oh my heavens.  I still can't get over how good these cookies are.  I have been eating them for breakfast.  I saved Christmas!!  This is a big deal for me!  I've been wanting to make healthier versions of traditional Christmas cookies for a couple of years now, and this year I've decided I'm just going for it, especially since Harlee is old enough to indulge in them too.  I really don't relish the thought of pumping my kid full of sugar just because 'tis the season... Especially when it's going to be EVERYwhere when he goes to grandparents' houses, friends' houses, etc.  Might as well keep it healthy at home right?  But that usually ends up not being any fun... so I'll admit I was a little nervous about this holiday season and my cookie situation.  I mean I don't want gross cookies to offer my family when we're supposed to be enjoying the treats of the season, ya know?

Well then I came across this recipe from PaleoSpirit.com.  It sounded good and looked good, and simple enough judging from the ingredients, so I thought, what the heck, give it a whirl!

Seriously classy iPhone photography again... I know, I rock.

Um, wow.  I still can't believe there's no sugar in these.  I can't believe there's not really anything bad in them, period!  They really do taste like they're bad for you!  Like the real deal - flour, butter, sugar, chocolate chip cookies!  They look and smell like the real deal, they dunk in milk like the real deal, they're as easy to make as the real deal... I'm just beside myself with happiness, this recipe gave me all the confidence I needed that I will succeed in my quest to make "healthy" but ultimately YUMMY Christmas cookies.

What's better?  These guys don't weigh on you and make you feel like you just ate something bad for you!  That and I didn't run into the issue of wanting to gobble up the whole batch.  Well, I did because they TASTED that good, but I didn't because there was no refined sugar or any other bad stuff that pretty much destroys any will power you have to stop.  Or am I the only one that's had that issue....? :-\

Anyway, I don't have a soap box to get on today, so no preachy blog about how this is bad for you and that is bad for you and this and that are better for you.  Just a bit of gushing about how good these cookies are, and the recipe!  And what a great recipe to kick off cookie baking season, too!  Enjoy! (And I know you will!)

Ingredients

• 2 cups blanched almond flour - you need to use a good brand like Honeyville Farms, even though it's kinda pricey, otherwise they won't turn out.  Trust me.  Been there done that.
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (or butter, if you're not worried about dairy), melted (I've had success with both)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup, or honey - I used honey
• 1 cup chopped pecans (optional, and more or less of them depending on your preference)
• 3/4 cup dark or regular chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Combine wet ingredients in a small bowl.
4. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
5. Use a small cookie dough scoop (or meatballer) or form into 1/2 inch balls and place on a parchment paper lined or non-stick cookie sheet.
6.  Press dough down onto pan to form round disks. (The dough does not automatically melt and spread out as with regular flour, unless you're not using Honeyville Farms, in which case you're going to have a huge spread-out mess.)
7.  Bake 8-10 minutes, a little longer if you like a crunchier cookie, but be careful, because with my experience, baked goods that use almond flour like to burn!
8. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

 You get about 30-36 cookies out of this recipe, and they're soft and moist with a bit of crispness on the outside - perfect if you asked me!