Tag Archives: almond butter

Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay, this post has been a long time coming.  Creating a half-way decent chocolate chip cookie which is gluten-free, dairy-free, and and sugar-free (well, processed cane sugar-free anyway) is pretty much the Holy Grail of Paleo baking for Paleo cookie fans.

Frankly, I as I write this I am not quite sure how to frame this post.  Although I am posting it today, I fully expect to keep coming back to update it regularly.  Now that it is fall and the Holiday season is fast approaching, I will no doubt be spending more time in the kitchen and cranking out more of these recipes. The Paleo food scene is constantly moving forward and I am certain that better and better recipes for Paleo chocolate chip cookies will continue to surface over time.

I am not going to post a single specific recipe in this post (for now anyway), but I am going to provide links to the best Paleo/Primal/Ancestral/Gluten-Free/Legume-Free/Dairy-Free/Cane Sugar-Free (even some vegan) chocolate chip cookie recipes that I have tried so far.  These are all chocolate chip only recipes, not banana chocolate chip or some other combination, I will leave that for another post.  I’ll also begin re-organizing the Paleo Cookie Recipes page to reflect this list of links and make some other changes that I have have been neglecting since spring.

What follows is a list of the best Paleo chocolate chip cookie recipes which I have made to date (again, I will update this post regularly).  I won’t bother listing the ones that completely sucked and will spare you the mouths full of nastiness that I have already endured.  I have also listed these recipes in order according to my personal preference.  Here goes:

The Best Paleo Choclate Chip Cookie Recipes… Ever

  1. Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies – CupcakesOMG  (read the post to understand the strikethrough; almond butter based; simple and delicious)
  2. Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies –  The Detoxinista (this is the recipe that most other people’s variations are based on; vegan and sweetened with maple syrup; incase you haven’t noticed I am a big fan of using maple sugar as a sweetener)
  3. Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies – The Paleo Project (coconut flour and almond butter based)
  4. Vegan Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies – Paleo Spirit (coconut flour and almond flour base sans-egg)

That is all for now.  Make sure you bookmark this post and I will continue to add more recipes and photos as I continue to try out more Paleo chocolate chip cookie recipes.

The Paleo Recipe Book

Anatomy of a Great Paleo Cookie Recipe – Nutty Cookies

Sweet or Savory?

In my ongoing search for the best Paleo cookie recipes, I’ve noticed that in general, CrossFit people seem to lean towards the naturally sweeter fruit heavy cookies, and non-CrossFitters seem to be a little more flexible on ingredients and lean towards the savory side.  I personally tend to look for a reasonable balance between savory and sweet.  I’ve realized over the years that my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes always tend to be heavy on salt.  Salt combined with semi-sweet or dark chocolate, cuts the sweetness of cane sugar normally added to non-Paleo cookie recipes.

Is Almond Butter Batter Better?

I’ve found that Paleo cookie recipes with almond butter (versus just almond flour) as an ingredient tend to have a more savory finish.  The almond butter based recipes also tend to result in a final product that is more moist, dense, and chewy. The same consistency you normally expect a fresh-baked cookie to have and not some dried out cracker-like concoction.  I suspect the natural oil in the almond butter makes this possible.

Nutty Cookies

I did find a great recipe for ‘Nutty Cookies’ (almond butter based, of course) from EverydayPaleo.com which provides a pretty good (but maybe not perfect) balance between savory and sweet:

Nutty Cookies Recipe:

2 bananas smashed

1/3 cup coconut flour

3/4 cup almond butter

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup raw walnuts

1 apple finely chopped

1/3 cup coconut milk

1 tbsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium mixing bowl, use a fork to smash the bananas to baby food consistency.  Add the coconut flour, almond butter, and baking soda and mix well.  Using a hand held chopper or food processor; chop the walnuts and apples to a very fine dice.  Add the walnuts, apples, coconut milk, and cinnamon to the bowl and mix in remaining ingredients.  Cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper and spoon heaping tablespoons of the cookie mix onto the parchment paper, placing an inch or two apart.  Bake for 25  minutes.  Makes approximately 20-22 cookies.

Sarah’s Nutty Cookies are fantastic.  Don’t believe me?  Go to her website and check out the comments.

-Chris

PS – For more great cookie and dessert recipes, check out Paleo Sweets!