Chocolate Chip Cookies for the Rest of Us (Grain-Free)

"Requires no decoration . . ."

Happy Festivus! December 23—the Eve of Christmas Eve—is finally upon us. While I may not be as prolific as Frank Costanza and am yet to create a holiday, I have created a grain-free, gluten-free chocolate chip cookie reminiscent of my aunt's famous adaptation of the Nestlé Tollhouse cookie recipe (her secret: an extra half-cup of flour). And like the Festivus metal pool, but unlike more complex iced sugar cookies, these of course, require no decoration.

You don't have to tell anyone that it's high protein and sweetened with dates (lending the caramel chocolate chip cookie color generally provided by brown sugar). But if you do, they'll surely agree that "It's a Festivus Miracle!"

Coconut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 eggs

7 medjool dates, soaked for 2 hours and pitted

2 packets powdered Stevia (optional, will increase sweetness)

.5 tsp vanilla

1.5 Tbs. grapeseed oil (or other oil)

2 Tbs. unsweetened applesauce

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 c. coconut flour, sifted

1/3 c. walnuts, chopped (optional)

1/3 c. semi-sweet gluten-free chocolate chips*

1. Pre-heat oven to 375º.

2. In vita-mix or blender, combine first 6 ingredients.

3. Blend until dates are thoroughly pureéd and no longer distinguishable (aside from brown flecks).

4. Mix together the coconut flour and salt in a small bowl.

5. Pour blender contents into a large bowl and slowly beat dry ingredients into wet.

6. Gently stir walnuts and chocolate chips into batter.

7. Drop by the tablespoonful into small rounded mounds on a well-greased cookie sheet or silpat mat.

8. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

When Santa has Celiac's—a plateful of gluten-free cookies.

Note: Like the Nestlé Tollhouse recipe, these are cakey. For a buttery, thinner grain-free Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe that is Vegan check out Elana's Pantry Chocolate Chip Cookies. Bloggers that want to familiarize themselves with Almond Flour can enter The Elana's Pantry Contest to win a 5 lb. bag of her preferred Almond Flour and a copy of her book, The Almond Flour Cookbook which, if you haven't noticed, is quickly becoming an important part of the gluten-free cookbook canon!

* See Truffle post for readily available mainstream gluten-free chocolates.

Date Sweetened Fudge

Desirous of everything at the same time . . .

Sweet, rich, chocolaty. Can healthy possibly be added to this list of fudge adjectives— can you have it all at once? I think so. With the healthy fat of coconut oil, anti-oxidant rich cocoa powder and light fruit sweeteners it can be healthy in moderation (this means a small piece). Perfect for holiday dessert trays and gifts.

And everybody goes "Awww!"

Date Sweetened Fudge

5 Tbs. coconut oil, liquified

5 Medjool dates, pitted, soaked & drained (or 15 Deglet Noor Dates aka California dates)

3 Tbs. apple sauce

1/2 C. cocoa powder

dash of sea salt

3 droppers liquid vanilla stevia or 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1. Combine coconut oil, dates apple sauce, salt and vanilla/stevia in blender.

2. Blend until smooth.

3. Add cocoa powder and blend until smooth.

4. Line a bread pan with wax paper.

5. Smooth batter into a square on wax paper.

6. Fold the excess wax paper over and smooth the top until even.

7. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until hard.

8. Slice.

You will only use about a quarter of a typical bread pan's real estate.

But, the batter is thick enough that you can easily form it into a nice neat square, like in the case at an old-fashioned fudge shop.

A few notes . . .

1. If you opt not to use Stevia, you may want to use an extra date or two depending upon how sweet you want the fudge to be.

2. Yes, coconut oil is difficult to work with because it is solid and almost rock-hard at room temperature. But, this is precisely why it works so well to harden the fudge. I turn the oven to warm then chip out the coconut oil that I need for a recipe and put it in a small oven safe bowl. When the oven has reached warm (around 200ºF), turn the oven off and put the coconut oil in to liquify it.

I hope that you are mad for it.