I don’t do well with grains.  In fact, because of their effect on my digestion, I don’t eat them very often… (except for my long-standing vice:  tortilla chips).  The reason for my disharmony with grains could be due to my IBS, celiac disease, or my ancestral ‘O’ blood type.  Whatever the cause, over the years I have learned that I feel better if I limit or omit them entirely.  For some more information on nutrition-typing, you can take a free test on Dr. Mercola’s website.

These cookies are a recipe that my carb-loving toddler and husband love!  I’ve realized that it’s easy for kids to end up with diets heavy in grains, sugar, and carbohydrates if you don’t make conscious choices to add in high quality fats and proteins.  To make these cookies specific carbohydrate diet compliant, you can substitute raw honey for the evaporated cane juice and leave out one (or both) of the bananas.  I will work on adding more grain-free, SCD, GAPS-friendly and anti-candida (Natalia Rose’s Detox for Women) recipes to this site.  I love any excuse to add more coconut oil to my diet.  Not only is it delicious and bakes superbly, but the medium chain fatty acids support thyroid function and aid in metabolism. Yummy.

Here is the recipe:

• 1/2 Cup Virgin Coconut Oil (plus more for greasing sheet)
• 1 Cup Coconut Flour
• 1 1/2 Cups Almond Meal or Almond Flour
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Very Ripe Bananas
• 1/2 Cup Evaporated Cane Juice
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Vanilla

Combine ingredients in food processor.  You may need to warm the coconut oil first if it’s too solid.  Process until well combined- you don’t need to worry about over-mixing. Grease baking sheet with extra coconut oil.  Drop by the spoonful.  Cookies won’t spread while baking, so avoid making them too high or the centers won’t cook all the way.  Bake in a 350 oven (325 convection) for 10-12 minutes.

Actually what made the difference was all the chocolate research and tasting that I did for my cookie recipes.  I became obsessed with chocolate production, with cocoa mass content, with the purity of the ingredients and with the absence of soy lecithin…. something that I very much contribute (along with low quality milk solids) to the waxiness of my childhood Halloween candies.

It’s no secret that cacao is a superfood.  The bean is high in antioxidants and a delicious source of minerals… including IRON.  Next time you are shopping for dark chocolate, look at the nutrition label and check the iron count.  The brands vary, but all the bars that have a high cocoa content should supply a really decent amount of iron!  It by far my favorite iron-rich foods… pumpkin seeds are second!

So, I thought I would share some of my favorite eating and baking chocolates…. (a note of disclaimer: the darker the better for me!) And although there are some lovely raw chocolates, they don’t have the complexity of flavor that I find from some of these amazing chocolate gurus.  Here are my faves in order for least intense to most hard-hitting.

1) Sweet Earth Baking Chocolate- 65% Big Baking Chips

Small chocolate producer in the Bay area.  These are the big chips I used in the Sift Bakery Double Chocolate cookies.  They are organic and Fair Trade Certified, vegan and soy free!  They have a number of other quality items too.  These were my snack during long days at the bakery!

2) Vivani’s 85% Bar

Just the right amount of bitter bite and smooooth.  When this goes on sale at New Seasons, I buy a case full.  This bar is truly astounding. Organic with just three ingredients: cocoa mass, cocoa butter, raw cane sugar.  They have an Allergy note on the website, saying that the machines are cleaned to a very high standard.  I have never had a problem with these and I am very sensitive.  There are many other chocolate bars that I’ve tried and won’t eat again because of reactions, but these feel very clean to my system.  Chock it up to German fastidiousness.

3) Theo Chocolate’s Venezuela 91% Bar

This company is from Seattle and it rocks.  The Origin Bars all have distinct flavors, like fine wines or coffees where you feel you are tasting the nuances in the soils from different regions of the world.  hmmm.  And 91% is just hardcore, but not bitter.  I love it.  The higher the cocoa content, the less I feel like I need to satisfy the jones.  No soy, no dairy, it’s beautiful!

4) Michel Cluizel’s Noir Infini 99% Bar

OK, I admit that 99% cocoa content sounds extreme, and maybe it is… but this bar is sweeter than expected.  The first time I bought a tiny square of it at Portland’s chocolate boutique (HEAVEN) Cacao, I was expecting it to taste like chomping on a square of baker’s chocolate.  Was I wrong!  The Noir Infini is an intense experience and not for the mainstream snicker’s addict… but it is a cocao-lover’s dream.  In addition to a tiny amount of sugar, it contains bourbon vanilla, a hint of orange and undisclosed spices.  Lucky for me I can’t taste the orange, I just taste intensity.

Here’s my cocoa recipe again:

1-2 TBS Raw Cocoa (I love Nativas Naturals)

pinch celtic sea salt

2 packets stevia (I love NuNaturals)

6-8 oz Hot H2O

2 oz Coconut Milk (like SoDelicious- I use the unsweetened)

optional: sprinkle of cayenne or cinnamon or both!

So, after a beyond-muddy long run on Sunday, I decided that I would usher in nicer weather with some Spring Cleaning. Sometimes there is no greater satisfaction than bringing organization to chaos and disarray! OK… so maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But I have been obsessed with cleaning and detox more than ever lately. I just want to shed any unnecessary baggage and live lightly, freely. I have recently donated significant portion of my clothes, weeded out unused kitchen items, and shredded loads of old receipts and papers.

In the spirit of domesticity and my new creative energy, I embarked on two new cookies- both vegan and gluten free of course…. Pumpkin Seed Hippie Cookies & Sunbutter Delights… one for me and the other for Ian.

Cream coconut oil, sweeteners and almond butter together. Then add dry ingredients mixing well. I mixed these with my hands! If you want it to be sweeter, just add a few sprinkles of stevia. Drop dough in small mounds or spoonfulls onto cookie sheet. (I use the silicone liners so they are non-stick, if you don’t have these you will need to greese the cookie sheet).
Bake for 12-16 minutes at 300 degrees until edges get golden.

Ahhh…. the cookies….. everyone was expecting something from me, but I haven’t hosted anything since going GF in March. So I REALLY wanted to make something that would be entirely undetectable from the real thing. SUCCESS!!!

I also accomplished the dairy free part, but couldn’t quite get soy free. Being short on time, I only managed to stop by Whole Foods…. and all their chocolate chips had soy lecithin. So annoying (just like the annoying soy additives to almond milks!)

I was hoping to recreate the recipe in a half batch on Sunday, but I ended up napping instead. It was much needed because, as it was, I was dragging yesterday at the Cafe.