Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ever feel like 'dieting' or eating healthier is akin to modern-day torture? We always think that healthy eating is associated with bland flavor. Well, eating the way I do, shifts the paradigm into a beautiful new direction! FAT. Fat is used in all fast food restaurants, why? TASTE. They feed cows corn at the end of their lifespan for one reason: it makes them fatter, incorporating a marbleizing of fat per slab of cow muscle/ meat AND it makes the meat more flavorful (but feeding cows corn is damaging to the animal, causing disease and poor-quality meat, in that it depletes the CLA content that your body desperately requires).

I now use organic and/ or raw butter, organic coconut oil, grass-fed beef tallow, lamb lard and other 'healthy' fats in my cooking, guilt-free. In fact, I don't gain a single pound, even though I'm battling some personal health issues, including my hormones, which ultimately affect my metabolism.

Can we also talk about salt? I mean REAL salt. The kind of stuff that's sticky & full of color (mega-amounts of healing clay, minerals and other near-to-your-blood's-components nutrients). I use Celtic Sea Salt and so do most chefs. Why? Again: FLAVOR.

So, what do I hear most when explaining my 'new' "diet" (ie, stop eating processed 'crap')? "Oh, dear! You are so limited! That must suck!". Really? Because I can't have an Oreo, a bagel or pasta, I'm limited? Honestly, I never was a bagel or pasta fan. I did like, however, a nice slab of toast with some butter, but that's no big thing, as I still have loads of fabulous food to eat in it's stead.

That being said, I still have a tad of a sweet-tooth. Now that I've gone a full year without stuffing my face with processed and highly-sugared food, though, I'm not a slave to the cravings.

So, now that I'm a 'good girl', I deserve some kind of reward, right? Don't get me wrong, some berries with some heavy cream and Stevia will ALWAYS be 'da bomb', but sometimes, we still like to resort back to our original 'sinful' days of yore and find a suitable alternative to that one food we all lovingly remember from our childhood, with that far-off, dreamy look in our eyes and drool forming at the corner of our mouths.

I was never a great cook (although I am forced to be a good cook now), as baking always suited my fancy. Is it because of the method of measuring and mixing? Or the sweet-tasting result? I'm not sure, maybe a combination of both. Whatever the reason, I am very proud to present to you my favorite 'Paleo/ Primal' version of this delicious classic: The Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie. I posted a pic and description on my Facebook and someone posted "That sounds gross! Ha ha!". Well, she couldn't be further from the truth, as my ten year old said, "Mom, this passes as a bonifide, real cookie!".

Gluten-Free, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
(note that this recipe was taken and modified from "Elana's Pantry" blog)

2 ½ cups blanched almond flour* (using Bob's Redmill? Add 1/8 cup of vanilla protein powder)
1 tablespoon - 1/8 cup of Stevia Baking Blend* (powder)
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt*
¼ teaspoon baking soda*
10 tablespoons organic, cultured butter*, melted (I sucessfully used 1/2 cup coconut oil*, melted)
1 tablespoon pure, organic, vanilla extract*
1/4 cup black strap molasses*
1/4 cup grade B org. maple syrup*
1 cup dark chocolate chips 73% cacaos*

* NOTE: All links for the above ingredients are for the highest quality products that I have personally used and are highly recommended for optimal nutrition AND flavor.

1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl
2. Stir together wet ingredients in a smaller bowl
3. Mix wet ingredients into dry
4. Form 1¨ balls and press onto a parchment lined baking sheet (use parchment paper on the top of the 'ball' and press down firmly using a glass tumbler). You may want to add the chocolate chips to the very top, AFTER pressing the cookies flat.
5. Bake at 350° for 7-10 minutes
6. Cool and serve


They may look like a greasy mess at first, but adding the chocolate pieces to the top, after the cookie has been squished flat, will minimize your frustration and the final baked result will astound you.

Enjoy with some homemade cold, raw milk, some homemade hot-chocolate (click here for my "Decadent, Dairy-free, Low-carb, Homemade Hot Chocolate recipe) or with some warm, homemade eggnog for the holidays.

Dang, now I've gone and made myself hungry! Off with you. Print out the recipe and start baking, while I plot the demise of my next meal.