Perfect Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Raise your hand if you're in favor of chewy cookies vs. crunchy cookies! Good. Because I found the recipe for the PERFECTLY chewy, delicious, sweet yet salty, paleo chocolate chip cookie. And I'm even going to claim that these are better than the original flour, butter, crisco, filled chocolate chip cookies that your grandma made. Yea, they're THAT good.

My pictures aren't all that great because I made these at night and took the photos immediately since I was so excited, but trust me, they taste 100 times better than they look. Plus, I have to add of course, that they're grain free, refined sugar free, gluten free, paleo, and all that jazz. I just cannot get over how good they tasted either - blew me away!

As you can see, it's been a while since I've baked cookies, and I forgot the whole "make sure you leave space between each blob you place on the tray", but even though I pretty much baked one large cookie, they still tasted just as delicious.

And guys, these are simple to make. I promise. You will need to have a good amount of almond butter, paleo flours (I ALWAYS have coconut and almond flours in my pantry) and of course chocolate chips on hand, but those are things you should be keeping in your pantry anyway! I mean, who can live without almond butter and chocolate chips!? I chose this dark chocolate option from my favorite Thrive Market, but you can grab any brand you'd like. I actually get ALL my baking ingredients from Thrive, but I provided some other great alternatives from Amazon below too, especially if you've got that Amazon prime membership like I do.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp Himalayan pink salt
• 6 tbsp coconut oil or unsalted butter (room temperature). Coconut oil should be a softened butter consistency - not liquid. Throw it in the fridge for a bit if it is. 
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 6 tbsp almond butter (room temperature) 
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg (room temperature) 
• 1 cup (or more) chocolate chips (I use the Thrive Market brand)

Directions:

1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Stir all the dry ingredients (almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda & salt) together in a medium bowl.
3. Using an electric hand mixer in a larger bowl, beat together the coconut oil and coconut sugar for about 1 minute. If you don't have an electric mixer, you could use your hands, but it needs to be mixed very well.
4. Add the almond butter and vanilla extract to the wet ingredients, and mix until well combined. Add the egg and beat for about 1 minute.
5. Stir in the flour mixture until everything is mixed well and forms a dough like texture. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Roll the dough into small balls and place on the baking sheet. Press down slightly with your hand. You can also add more chocolate chips to the tops of the balls.
7. Bake for about 12-14 minutes or until the cookies are nicely browned and the surface no longer appears wet.
8. Let cool completely before storing!

Paleo Dark Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Yes, this is as good as it looks. And yes, it's also decently healthy (aside from the chocolate part). This is my dark chocolate chip zucchini banana bread, and it's gluten free, grain free, dairy free, and absolutely delicious - even for breakfast if you feel so inclined. I make my regular banana bread so darn often that I decided I needed to try something new this time around. And although it's not as amazing as my original banana bread, this version is a great twist on the original recipe.

Zucchini is super high in fiber and low in calories, making it a great food to incorporate into any recipe. It's also rich in potassium, just like bananas, so you're really getting your fill with this recipe. I used coconut flour, as usual, which is also super high in fiber and even better, low in carbs. But really, how good is this recipe!? This bread is also sweetened naturally (aside from the chocolate chips which are totally optional), and fulfills my constant dessert craving that I have throughout the day. Luckily, I don't feel guilty snacking on this one, which is exactly why I make recipes like this!

Recipe:

• 1 cup organic shredded zucchini, or about 1 medium sized zucchini
• 1 large ripe banana, mashed up
• 6 organic eggs
• 3 tbsp REAL maple syrup, or raw honey
• 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup coconut flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt (I used pink Himalayan)
• 1/2 to 1 cup dark chocolate chips (optional, depending on your preference)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Squeeze the excess water out of the shredded zucchini either in a paper towel or dish towel.
3. Throw everything together in a food processor (minus the chocolate chips) on low until well mixed.
4. Fold in about 2/3 of the chocolate chips to the mixture.
5. Pour mixture in to a greased (I used ghee), 8x8 pan, and sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned and you can insert a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean.

The Deliciously Ella Sweet Potato Brownies

I finally hopped on the bandwagon and tried the famous Deliciously Ella sweet potato brownies that everyone seems to rave about. Honest opinion? I wasn't obsessed with the flavor and texture of them, but these are almost completely added sweetener free and pretty darn healthy. That is the appeal of them though, right? Eating dessert without actually getting the bad side effects of it? I just think they taste a little more like a Luna bar then a brownie, but I'd make them again. That icing though... I'm planning on making just that and eating spoonfuls of it. It was AMAZINGGG. 

Sweet potatoes are the star of this recipe as they are the base of the brownie. Nothing like mixing some healthy starch and fiber into dessert right? This recipe also calls for almonds and coconut oil, so they're also a very good source of healthy fats. They're super simple to make and full of good for you ingredients... Read on for the recipe if you're willing to give them a try.

Ingredients:

• Brownies:
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes
  • 12 medjool dates
  • 6 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup ground almonds
  • 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup ground oats
  • 6 tbsp cacao powder
  • a pinch of salt
• Icing:
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp almond butter
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp cacao powder

Directions:

1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees.
2. Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into chunks and steam them until they are soft. I believe you could also boil them in water until soft too if you'd like.
3. Place cooked sweet potato and pitted dates in a food processor together and blend until well mixed.
4. Mix remaining brownie ingredients in a bowl together and stir.
5. Next, pour the sweet potato/date combo into the bowl with the remaining brownie ingredients and mix well. 
6. Grease or line a brownie pan with parchment paper, and pour the brownie mix into the pan.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until you can pierce the brownies with a toothpick and it comes out dry.
8. Remove from the oven and let it sit for about 10-20 minutes - do not touch it! It is important for them to cool down before you cut them up.
9. To make the icing, simply put all the ingredients into a bowl and melt them in the microwave (about 30 seconds to 1 minute). Stir well and place in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes to harden it up a bit so you can spread it! 
10. Allow the brownies to cool before icing, otherwise it will melt fast! Or just eat the icing on it's own like I plan to do. :)