Photo: Natalie Levin
It’s no secret that I maintain a healthy lifestyle and reduce my desserts eating on a daily basis. In the past 3 years I’ve made a huge change in my lifestyle and personal diet, mainly because I wanted to improve the way I feel about my body and be physically fitter and stronger than I used to be.
Despite the last paragraph, it did not change my attitude toward desserts – I still very much like to make them at home way more than I like to eat sweets. It’s always been this way for me. My pleasure in desserts comes from the creative place of making them; The thought of the combinations of flavors, colors and textures excites me every time I bake, and I enjoy seeing people eat and love what I made. As far as I’m concerned, a compliment on a dessert I made is worth much more than tasting another bite of chocolate cake.
Still, I don’t really believe in making “diet” desserts with artificial substitutes, and I prefer eating the real stuff only in moderation. As long as most of the time I make sure to eat healthy, one meal that is “healthy for the soul” certainly will not ruin anything. That’s how I find myself enjoying desserts from time to time, pizza, hamburgers, ice cream and other yummy fun foods.
Photo: Natalie Levin
Why am I telling you all of this? I wrote about it a long time ago in a personal post I published on my Facebook profile (Hebrew, sorry), and I feel that I just have to share it more freely over the blog too. It is important for me to share with you my personal life and the changes I came through, because it is one of the most significant processes I’ve undergone in my life, and it also has a great influence on how I relate to food and nutrition these days.
I want to continue to share with you my process, so I am excited to present a new category on a blog of slightly healthier desserts. Of course, regular dessert recipes will continue to be published here as often, but occasionally there will be a whiff of protein bars, whole 30 recipes and desserts that are little healthier and fit into my lifestyle.
The opening shot is this next recipe – gluten free chocolate chip cookies, that are nondairy and Paleo friendly. They are also perfect for upcoming Passover as they contain no wheat flour. These gluten free chocolate chip cookies are golden brown, so fragrant and rich, and simply delicious. It’s made with coconut flour and coconut sugar that is considered healthier and not processed like white sugar. These cookies are truly excellent!
Photo: Natalie Levin
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies (Nondairy, Paleo)
Based on a recipe from Texanerin Baking blog with some changes and adjustments.
For the cookies:
- 85 grams coconut oil
- 150 grams coconut sugar
- 100 grams almond butter
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 large egg
- 70 grams coconut flour/ rice flour/ tapioca flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 200 grams dark chocolate (coarsely chopped)
- In a mixer bowl with a paddle attachment, mix coconut oil, coconut sugar, almond butter, vanilla and salt at high speed until uniform, creamy mixture is formed.
- Scrape down the edges of the bowl with a spatula and add in the egg. Mix until assimilated in the batter.
- Add coconut flour, baking soda and chopped chocolate, and mix until a uniform, slightly sticky dough is obtained.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and lightly flatten to a disc shape. Refrigerate for about 2 hours to set.
- Preheat the oven to 170c degrees.
- Roll small walnut-sized balls of dough and place them 2 inch apart on a baking pan lined with baking paper.
- Bake the cookies for 10-14 minutes or until they flatten, turn golden and set at the edges but still slightly soft in the center.
- Cool completely and serve.
- Keep the cookies in a sealed jar for up to 10 days.
- I used dark chocolate with 75% cocoa solids, but you can use any dark chocolate you like.
- It is important not to omit the salt in these cookies because it balances the sweetness and emphasizes the flavor of the chocolate.
- The recipe is considered Paleo only if you use coconut flour and dark chocolate with at least 80% cocoa solids.
- Coconut sugar can be bought online here (affiliate).
- Coconut flour can be bought online here (affiliate).
- Almond butter can be bought online here (affiliate).