Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Double Chocolate Hazelnut Coconut Cookies (grain free, dairy free, cane-sugar free)

Once in a blue moon I crave chocolate like a crazy person.  This makes my chocoholic husband insanely happy.  These little double chocolate cookies really hit the spot.  Dates give this cookie a nice chewy, soft texture.  Generally I use almonds or walnuts as the base ingredient in grain free baking.  But I had some lonely little hazelnuts in the fridge just waiting for their turn.  Hazelnuts and chocolate?  Fuggedaboutit.   
 Ingredients 
-1 cup whole raw hazelnuts*
-1/3 cup whole raw almonds*
-1/4 cup coconut flour
-1/4 cup raw organic cacao
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1/8 teaspoon salt
-6 dried medjool dates (pitted and soaked in filtered water for about 3-4 hours)
-1/4 cup coconut oil, melted 
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla 
-3 or 4 tablespoons honey 

How To
Preheat oven to 375
1.  In food processor with s-blade, grind hazelnuts until coarse.
2.  Add almonds and blend until nuts release just a bit of oil.
3.  Add coconut flour, pulse.  Add cacao, pulse.
4.  Add baking soda and salt, pulse, pulse, pulse.
(the dry mixture should feel like a fine flour).
5.  Transfer dry ingredients to a bowl.  Clean out food processor.
6.  In food processor with s-blade, add strained dates, coconut oil, vanilla, and honey and blend until incorporated. 
7.  Add wet ingredients to dry and mix.  
8.  Form small balls and press down into cookie shape
9.  Bake for 12 minutes.  
10.  When cool, top cookies with melted chocolate.  I use this chocolate bar (extreme dark chocolate 88%).  It's cane-sugar free (sweetened only with filtered date sugar) and dairy free.  It does contain soy lecithin.  

Notes
*Soak and dehydrate nuts for optimal digestion 
Shared on: Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays,  Pennywise PlatterMiz Helen's Country CottageTraditional TuesdaysThe Healthy Home Economist, Fat Tuesdays, Ruth's Real Food: 101Real Food WednesdaysGluten-Free WednesdaysJust Another Meatless MondayMelt in your Mouth MondaysLunch Box Love Fridays, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Whole Food Wednesdays, Wellness Weekend, Allergy-Friendly Friday, Freaky Friday, Fresh Bites Fridays, & Superfood Sunday

33 comments:

  1. Tessa Domestic DivaJanuary 31, 2012 at 12:06 PM

    Oo! I Can't WAIT to make these! pinned it!

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  2. Wow! Wow AND Wow! I'm speechless Amber, these look AMAZING!

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    • Hi Vicky,

      Is it bad that I've already had 5 today? I honestly don't crave chocolate very often, so when I do it's on like Donkey Kong. I need to make another batch for my husband tonight. He will be sad boy if I eat all his beloved chocolate. :-)

      Hugs,
      --Amber

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    • It's not bad unless you're on the SCD! We've got chocolate chip muffins in the oven at the moment and it's midnight! These look so good I'd give them a medal for the most healthiest & yummiest chocolate cookies I've ever seen!

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    • Wow, you're too kind Vicky. Your muffins sounds yummy - hope to see that recipe soon.

      Not on the SCD yet. Getting there. My goal is to start soon, but I'm still working on my weekly recipes and still processing this big change. I don't want to be 5 days in just to cave in. So, working on putting together a really solid 2 week SDC menu plan! I'll be sharing that soon too.

      Hugs,
      --Amber

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  3. Umm...yes please! When can I come over and eat an entire batch of these?! I'll eat these any day with a glass of homemade almond milk :)

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    • You read my mind with the almond milk! Door is always open my friend. Oh, and don't forget some strawberries for the milk so we can really party! ;-)

      Hugs,
      --Amber

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  4. Hazelnuts add a lovely flavour! Funny I picked a packet up today and put them down again! I guess tomorrow I may go and buy them!

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  5. gfe--gluten free easilyJanuary 31, 2012 at 12:33 PM

    Boy, do I wish I had all the ingredients to make these, Amber! They look AWESOME! Might have to improvise. Question for you ... why do you have to clean out the food processor after processing dry ingredients if you are going to add the dry and the wet together anyway? Curious.

    xo,
    Shirley

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    • Hi There Shirley,

      Good question. You don't have to clean it out I guess, but I did so I wanted to add that in the steps. I didn't want any extra flour in the processor when I mixed the wet ingredients. The wet ingredients are more pasty than wet, so just keeping things very precise. I just gave it a wipe clean. But, I'm sure you can go either way. I'm just anal about things sometimes. :-)

      Hugs,
      --Amber

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  6. DROOLING! This recipe is getting saved! :)

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  7. Thanks for linking your great post to FAT TUESDAY. This was very interesting! Hope to see you next week!

    Be sure to visit RealFoodForager.com on Sunday for Sunday Snippets – your post from Fat Tuesday may be featured there!
    http://realfoodforager.com/fat-tuesday-january-31-2012/

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  8. Pat's Pink ApronFebruary 2, 2012 at 10:18 AM

    Those look amazing and sound delicious! Pat

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  9. Laureen @ Fox in the KitchenFebruary 2, 2012 at 11:49 PM

    Wow, these look so good and it feels like forever since I've had chocolate. I'm going to have to try these soon!

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    • Thanks Laureen! We need our chocolate fix once in a while! :-)

      Have a great weekend.

      Be Well,
      --Amber

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  10. Kirsten @ MesadevidaFebruary 3, 2012 at 8:15 AM

    Oh my goodness, these look amazing, can't wait to try them! I'm so glad I came upon your site - from the Wheat Free, Meat Free Roundup email I get. I'm not much of a baker so I'm always looking for great recipes to try that fit with my lifestyle. Thank you so much!!

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    • Hi Kristen,

      Thank you for your lovely comment! I'm right there with you on the baking. I don't tout myself as a baker, nor do I particular like it, but I love making something that's fast and delicious. I sort of dread cake making (so I usually just do cupcakes) - for some reason it just feels less arduous. :-)

      Be Well,
      --Amber

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  11. Danielle @ Against All GrainFebruary 3, 2012 at 8:25 PM

    Oh my, these look amazing!! Luckily for me, I added back in raw cacao to my SCD diet so I will definitely be trying these!! Desserts are one thing that are seriously lacking from my blog and weekly cooking. That's why I usually end up cheating, but with these I don't have to! Yay!

    Ps - Just saw you're from Davis! We're in Danville. :)

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  12. Hi Amber,
    These cookies need to be in my cookie jar, yes they do. They look delicious and I can't wait to try them. Hope you are having a great week end and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

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  13. Tessa Domestic DivaFebruary 14, 2012 at 3:38 PM

    I KNEW these would be good, and they ARE! I used pecans instead of almonds. I also just did everything in the food processor without separating wet and dry...I had date paste, so it worked well! Now i need to try and not eat the whole batch.....

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  14. These are amazing! I've made them twice, once with added chocolate chips and once without. I loved them both ways. :) I've also made them with all hazelnuts and liked it that way as well. Thanks for a great grain-free cookie recipe! I'm new to the whole grain-free baking thing but these have been the best cookies so far. I enjoyed them so much that I made a post about them just now. Thanks again. :)

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    • Just saw your post. So great! Your pictures are mouthwatering. So happy you enjoyed the recipe! It's my husband's favorite! :-)

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  15. Hi are there any substitutions for the coconut flour? A nut flour instead perhaps?

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    • Hi Alana,

      Great question.

      If you can have grains, I would sub 3 tablespoons brown rice flour and 1 tablespoons tapioca starch.

      Coconut flour is very high in fiber and adds a bit of "bulk."

      If you can't have grains, I would go with a bean flour, such as garbanzo.

      If you don't like the idea of that, then you can try using a nut flour, but it must be super fine. You might also have success using cashew butter.

      Please let me know what you use and how it worked. Subs can be tricky, but not impossible. I'm sure other people have the same question.

      Thanks again,
      --Amber

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  16. Amber - you're not helping me lose any weight! STOP IT!! These look amazing. I'm actually drooling at the moment...

    Jen

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  17. allmygutsandsoulDecember 9, 2012 at 2:26 PM

    These look great! They are egg free as well!? You need a pin button. :)

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  18. These look great. Though I wonder what how many calories these things have.

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