Okay, so I totally changed the cookie name from Paleo Cherry Almond Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Yay for me! I'm so good at naming things. (I wish).
Here we are again, folks. Re-writing recipes like it's our business, but you know what? It's unrealistic to be able to follow every recipe to a "T". Why? Because we don't always have the ingredients on hand and it's unrealistic (again) to have to buy a few new expensive ingredients that'll only be used once. Plus, raise your hand if you have a food sensitivity.
I knew I wanted to make chocolate cherry cookies and I knew I wanted them to be gluten free (GF) with as little sweetener as possible. So, I Google'd "paleo chocolate cherry cookies". Why paleo? Because the paleo diet is GF by nature and all the common flours I have at home are paleo friendly (i.e. nut-based).
Here's the original recipe. And here's what I did:
RECIPE RE-WRITE: Chocolate Cherry Cookies with a Bunch of Other Stuff
Servings: 10-12 decently-sized cookies
Time: 1 hour (30 minutes is for the dough to go in the fridge)
Taste: Choco-nutty & Subtly sweet
Action: Brain-boosting & Satiating
INGREDIENTS
1/2C coconut oil (at room temperature, doesn't need to be melted)
3/4C coconut sugar (not my favourite sweetener, but I had exactly this amount and wanted it gone)
1 egg (at room temperature)
1t vanilla extract (alcohol-free)
1/2t baking soda
1/2t mountain salt
2 + 1/4C blanched almond flour
Here's where I changed things up...
2T raw cacao powder
1/4C almond mylk
1/4C cacao nibs (instead of chocolate chunks)
1/4C dried organic cherries
1/4C goji berries
1/3C pecan pieces (I broke the pecans apart with my hands)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Beat together the coconut oil and coconut sugar until smooth. If you don't have a beater, use a fork or a spatula for best results. (I used a spatula).
2. Beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth.
3. Add the baking soda and salt to the wet ingredients. Mix until smooth.
4. Add the almond flour to the wet ingredients. Mix until incorporated. (It's easier to mix if you add it in stages).
5. Fold in the cacao nibs, goji berries, cherries and pecan pieces.
6. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes and up to 48 hours. (I didn't cover mine, but I only refrigerated it for 30 minutes. If you refrigerate for longer, I suggest covering it).
7. Turn oven on to 350F when there's 10 minutes left to go and prepare your baking sheet. (I used parchment paper on a baking sheet).
8. Scoop batter the size of a golf ball and roll between hands. Place it on the baking sheet and press it down with your hand until 1/2" thick. Round out the edges. Repeat with cookies approximately 1" apart on baking tray.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes. You're going to want to stay close to the oven for these and flip up the cookies at the 15 minute mark to check the bottoms. You want them to be firm and slightly darker than when they went into the oven, without the bottoms changing colour much (if at all).
Cookies will be chewy, a tiny bit crisp and oh so satisfying. You're welcome to try either recipe. Either way, let me know how it goes!
BTW...I almost forgot to snap photos of these gems before they were all gone! That's why there's a half-eaten cookie pictured here. Sorry (am I, though?).
