Monday, April 30, 2012

Raw-licious Lemon Cookies (SCD Friendly)


After I made my raw carrot cake cookies (inspired by these), one of my readers inquired about the lemon cookies.  I'm not sure if you're familiar with these raw cookies, but you can check them out here.  They popped up in my Coop a few months ago.  I tried the carrot cake cookies first and was shocked by their deliciousness,  but the price tag is rather discouraging ($6 per bag - and it's a tiny bag folks).  I was successful in making the carrot cookies at home.  Naturally, the lemon cookies have been on my mind.  So a few weeks ago I made a batch and they were outrageously good, the perfect burst of lemon with all the benefits of a raw, live food.  These differ in one respect from the store bought variety, they aren't a crunchy cookie.  They are soft, but equally wonderful.  I like them both ways, and I have to tell you, the flavor is spot on.  So if you've tried these, and love them, try making them at home (this batch yields 60-70 cookies depending on how big or small you make them)!  And you might be able to get that crunch if you dehydrate longer.  I made both cookies and balls with this batch.  And by the way, my kids...LOVE these.  What a super healthy snack.  I'm making these next!
Ingredients 
-14 dates, pitted and soaked in filtered water until soft (the soaking time will depend on how soft or hard your dates are to begin with.  I usually soak mine for 6 hours or until super soft)
-4.5 ounces unsweetened shredded coconut (1 cup)
-1 cup sesame seeds (soaked for 10 hours)
-1/2 teaspoon lemon flavor (or to taste, start with 1/4 tsp)
-1 teaspoon lemon zest

How To
1.  In food processor fitted with the s-blade, add dates and blend into a paste. Add in lemon flavor, blend.   
2.  In another bowl, add coconut, well drained sesame seeds, and lemon zest.  Mix well. 
3.  Add date mixture to coconut, sesame seeds, and lemon zest and with clean hands, mix well. 
4.  Form into little cookies or balls.
5.  Place in your dehydrator (on a mesh fitting) and dehydrate at 105 degrees for 24 hours (or more).  Crank it up to 135 degrees for the last hour. I know this sounds like a long time, but this low temperature really preserves all the beneficial nutrients.  I have no idea how these would work in the oven, but please let me know if you try.  

Notes:
*I put my dehydrator in the laundry room and just forget about it.  
*If making the balls, dehydrate 105 degrees for 12-15 hours.  They will be soft and chewy.  







Shared on: Just Another Meatless Monday, Melt in your Mouth Mondays, Monday Mania, Ruth's Real Food 101 (Mondays), Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Traditional Tuesdays, Fat Tuesdays, Kids in the Kitchen, Real Food Wednesdays, Allergy-Free Wednesdays, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Whole Food Wednesdays, Full Plate Thursday, Pennywise Platter, Simple Lives Thursday, It's a Keeper Thursday, Wellness Weekend, Raw Foods Thursday, Fresh Bites Friday, Freaky Friday, Fight Back Friday, Friday Food, Lunch Box Love Fridays,  Feed Your Soul Friday, Allergy Friendly Friday, Superfood Sunday 
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37 comments:

  1. Amber Shea @Almost VeganApril 30, 2012 at 7:46 AM

    I've never had those packaged cookies, but wow, these look great...and they're nut-free, which means I can have them right now!

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    1. Thanks Amber. Yes, and it's hard to find nut-free stuff (especially in raw/living foods)!! These are a super fun treat.

      Hugs,
      --Amber

      Delete
  • gfe--gluten free easilyApril 30, 2012 at 11:56 AM

    I want to come visit and stay for a month. I'll be sending my list on everything I'd like us to make together while I'm there. ;-) These will be on the list! :-)

    You rock, Amber! xo,
    Shirley

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    Replies

    1. You're so funny Shirley. Wouldn't that be a hoot! I would love that so much. :-)

      Hope you're having a great Monday!

      Hugs,
      -Am

      Delete

  • What if you don't have a dehydrator? Can you use a very low setting on an oven?

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    1. Hello Anonymous. Great question. I haven't tried this, but if your oven goes low enough, you may be able to "cook" them in the oven. I was interested in keeping them raw, which is why I opted for the dehydrator, but if raw isn't a concern, I'm sure these would do fine in the oven, perhaps at 200 degrees, just keep an eye on them! If you try this, I would love to hear how they turned out Come on back and leave a comment. Thanks!

      Be Well,
      --Amber

      Delete
  • kellie@foodtoglowApril 30, 2012 at 1:14 PM

    These look like a must-try, but I will probably do them with orange blossom water as I don't know if I've seen decent lemon extract here in the UK. A bit nervous about the 24 hour dry but I will just trust you on this :D

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    1. Hi Kelly,

      Please let me know how you like them. You certainly don't have to dehydrate that long, check the texture ever 3 hours and pull them out whenever you like. And if you add water, you will have to dehydrate longer. In fact, instead of adding water, you may just want to use more lemon zest if you can't find the lemon flavor. Just a suggestion.

      Be Well,
      --Amber

      Delete
  • Heather @Gluten-Free CatApril 30, 2012 at 3:10 PM

    Amber, I love this recipe!! I've tried the Go Raw cookies before and love them, but I've never bought the lemon cookies. Guess I never will, because your recipe is now at the top of my "must try" list!

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    Replies

    1. Thanks Heather! Aren't these cookies the best?! So simple. I love their crunch, but my homemade cookies are quite tasty too, just not as crunchy. :-)

      Be Well,
      --Amber

      Delete
  • Sonia @ Natural New Age MumMay 5, 2012 at 12:50 AM

    yum.... I bought a dehydrator, but I haven't used it yet! this sounds like the perfect thing to start with! thank you, Sonia :)

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    1. So fun!! This is a super easy recipe to make and so fun to dehydrate. Good luck!!

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  • Do you think you coud substitute sunflower seeds for the sesame seeds? Thanks

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    1. Good question Nancy. I don't see why not? I've only made these with sesame, so please let me know if it works out. Would love to know! Thanks!

      Delete
  • rachel hildebrandtOctober 22, 2012 at 3:58 PM

    Thank you so much for that recipe!!
    Those cookies being my favorite - and my daughter too, I was trying to replicate the recipe to avoid buying them at the store. Imagine how it adds up quick!
    My intuition told me to check on the net and yes: I found yours. It helps me with quantities and avoid the several trials! Did you try using lemon oil or was-it not an option?
    Thank you!!!

    Rachel - CA

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    Replies

    1. I There Rachel,

      Yes, I do use lemon (flavor) oil - 1/4 teaspoon. I have not tried using lemon juice, as I thought it might be too wet. Lemon flavor/oil is very powerful and yields a fantastic lemon flavor. Good luck!

      Delete

  • Thanks for the great recipe! These turned out exactly like the Go Raw ones and were so much cheaper to make!

    I didn't have any lemon flavor so I used the juice of 2 lemons.
    It was very sticky and hardly stayed together, but what i did was I let them sit in the refrigerator for about a day, and when I took them out I rolled them into balls and dehydrated them like that. After I dehydrated the balls for a bit, I then flattened them once they were harder, and they eventually turned into the perfect and crunchy cookie I was looking for!

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    1. Oh wow, I am always afraid to use lemon juice! I can imagine these were very sticky indeed, but it sounds like you thought of a great solution and refrigerating them and that did the trick. So great they turned out crunchy...maybe this is the key to getting them to that crunch level. Thanks for your comment - I appreciate you sharing your version and experience. This is always helpful to other readers. :-)

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  • So glad I found your sight. I just found these packaged cookies in Whole Foods but the chocolate ones and have been scouring the web trying to see if anyone has tried to copy it. These little cookies are yum-my and would like to make them. I will try these out. Thanks for posting your recipe.

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    1. Thanks so much! I am going to make the chocolate variety very soon! Stay tuned. :-)

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  • These cookies look mighty wonderful, but I don't think they are SCD legal because sesame seeds aren't legal. Is there an alternative seed?

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    1. Hi there. Sesame seeds (like all nuts and seeds) are only illegal at the beginning of the diet. Here is a quote from the SCD diet guide: "Sesame seeds, like other edible seeds, are illegal at the beginning of the diet but may be added later with caution after a few months of initial success. You can grind your own or purchase pure sesame butter (tahini) to make your own tahini preparations.

      So, no alternative needed, as you should be avoiding nuts and seeds if you are at the beginning of the diet.

      Delete

  • Hi, I love these cookies and just found your recipe. I had one question though. The ingredients on the package says sprouted sesame, is that the purpose of soaking the seeds in water? Were they unhulled seeds? Instead of buying sprouted off the internet I was wondering if this was pretty much the same thing.

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    1. Hi Jessica,

      You got it! Soaking for the time I suggest will sufficiency sprout your seeds. Really, what you are doing is releasing the enzyme that inhibits digestion. So the soaking is a must and makes the seeds easy to digest!

      Delete

    2. Thank you so much! This advice seriously not only helped with this recipe but with life! Haha. I am new to all of this and have literally been looking up everything I could about sprouted seeds for the last two days and just felt lost. Thank you!

      Delete

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