Category Archives: Cookies

Dear Friends, if you come upon this site and you decide to make one thing from all of my recipes…CHOOSE THESE!!! They are sooooooo goooood!!!!

Lately there has been lots of discussion about food. Caitlyn, you may be thinking, is this something new? Well no my friends, it is not. I think about food quite often, I do write about it after all. In the heads of many, food has lately become a most sought after discussion piece. It is after all, one of the most universal subjects in the world. How amazing is that? It is something that everyone, in the whole world, needs, likes, and appreciates. This is not including of course, Breathatarians.

I wonder at food. I look up to it with googly eyes, thinking, gosh, you are soooo cooool! That must be why I incorporate it’s flavors and nourishment into most things that I do. I love how it can bring people together. Unite pretty much anyone and be shared by just about anyone.

In particular, I love to share food. This happened also to be the inspiration for this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cranberry Orange Cookies. The other night I brought a plate of these scrumptious cookies to some friends house, and we enjoyed and savored their rich sweet flavor. All the while feeling mighty proud of the health that I was sharing, I also was able to share them with my roommates, and my sweetie. Cookies, to say the least are for sharing!

These cookies are low glycemic, gluten free, vegan, and most importantly made with love, and made to share. I hope you enjoy the recipe. The original I found at Elana’s pantry, but I did a little doctoring of my own.

2 1/2 cups almond flour
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup cranberry
1 1/2 cup coconut nectar and honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup grape seed oil
1/2 fresh ground almond butter
1 teaspoon orange flavor

In my busy soul searching days of Denver, I found many tasty treats to feed my time of self inquisition and found many eats to support the process. Different times in life call for different types of food. This is just a theory, however from my experience I find many moments in my life where I look down at my plate, and think, well this is fitting.

Where I found many comforts: ex-boyfriends, lasting friendships, gluten-free pizza, tasty coffee, and many intense chats hovered over a small dim lit table was at a place I fondly think of; called City o’ City.

A place where the food was so predictable, and a diverse mix of clientele all added to my delights. Anyone from the healthy yogi nut to the smoking whiskey drinking hipster would come together and share a space in the booths at City o’ City. Kudos’ to the owner Dan. His taste for sustainability and European flair, made it a special gathering place for many Denver residents. Having turned Dan’s compost, I can personally say that he is a smart and devout business man, and a great support to many young thriving artists in the Denver metro area. Below is a sweet video about the establishment just for your visual pleasure.

City O’ City from Sam Potts on Vimeo.

Favorite tasty treats of my favor were, almond milk lattes, gluten free pizza with vegan cashew ricotta, Hudson Whiskey, and the oh so famous Scout cookie. Being back in New York and missing my favorite dive, I decided to pursue the recreation of the Scout cookie. My second attempt mind you. A success this time. I can’t say that they are too similar, however the replica I came up with is a close second. Gluten Free and no sugar (I use coconut nectar as a replacement) ( Read this if you want to know a little bit more about this low glycemic, enzymatic alternative sweetener) I call these True Loves. Because they taste like the real thing and because of the wonderful heart shape they took!

Here is the recipe:

The cookies:

1/4 cup organic Earth Balance

1/2 cup coconut nectar

1/4 cup organic walnuts

1/4 cup TEFF flour

1/4 cup rice flour

pinch o’ salt

4 tablespoons peanut butter

1/2 cup shredded carrots

2 tablespoons almond milk

In food processor, combine the first 5 ingredients and blend till they form a soft ball. Add carrots and almond milk, and mix. Form with your hands balls and store in the refrigerator while you make the ganache.

Ganache:

3/4 cup almond milk, rice milk,

1/4 cup Earth Balance

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate)

(recipe adapted from the veganchef.com)

This recipe can easily be made vegan, substituting margarine for butter, and vegan chocolate.

In a double boiler, add milk and butter, heating until the butter melts.

Add the chocolate and continue cooking stirring til’ smooth. Let the ganache cool to about room temperature, and set aside. Take your cookies out of the refrigerator and set on a baking sheet and use a heart shaped cookie cutter to form shapes. Bake for 1o minutes, or until golden around the edges.

Set the cookies in the freezer to cool for 1 hour, or in the fridge overnight. ( If you save it for next day, the ganache will need to be stored in the refrigerator and re heated the next day) Once cookies are cold, dip the bottom half of the cookie into the ganache. This is the fun part!! Don’t be timid, and be okay with “roughly” handling your cookie, they like it! After they are all dipped, place on a plate or baking sheet and drizzle ganache on top. Store in the fridge, or the freezer for an extra cold treat, or a special occasion. Hearts to all of you out there!!

Don’t let the mess scare you away. Let it bring something to your life instead. Sometimes things get messy, but when the mess deters you from your goals, look at it as just an opportunity to allow and use motivation to let the mess take form of something special, for instance these Raw Chocolate Almond Cookies.

They were a bit of a mess, yet they were a hit!

Also it can help having your friends tell you the truth about the mess and what things really taste(look) like is the best route. As I know for myself sometimes I have the tendency to be my own worst critic. And aside from my fretting of the mess not turning out, everyone who got to taste “the mess”, agreed, They were actually really great.

So let’s get messy, and I hope you enjoy this Recipe for Raw Chocolate Almond Cookies:

In a medium bowl combine all dry ingredients:



1 cup Navitas Chocolate Powder (click here for Navita’s site)

1 cup sifted coconut flour

1/4 cup almond flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt



Mix dry ingredients until completely mixed and evenly distributed.

In a small bowl combine all wet ingredients:

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 splash of creme liquor

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup maple syrup

Decoration:

Raw almonds

whisk together all ingredients adding the wet to the dry stirring till they become a dough consistency. Time to get MESSY. Take 1/4 cup measuring cup and portion out. Then roll dough into small balls. Place on a parchment covered baking sheet. Then using the bottom of measuring cup, press balls into cookie form, pressing raw almonds to dress.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Option: you can coat cookies with confectioners sugar for added decor and flavor.

Hello all my lovely readers, dedicated to enjoying and supporting this little venture that is called my blog! As you might know my last post was dedicated to a switch to gluten-free, a road that I will be taking from now on. It also paid homage to a wonderful blog that I follow, elanaspantry.com.
I have been a fan and follower of Elana’s pantry since I started blogging. I read her posts quite frequently, and her story of becoming a blogger is quite inspiring to me (Check it out here: www.elanaspantry.com). Her blog is a consistent muse for eating and a strong inspiration for my blog. The story I am about to tell you is a nice example of paying it forward, or good karma: an example of how sometimes putting yourself out there, sharing your successes, result in receiving awards back,outwardly and inwardly.

Yesterday when I was writing the gluten-free berry blog, I received an email from Elana’s pantry telling me that I had won an All-Clad 4-quart sauté pan from her site! She occasionally has give-aways, and I always try to enter because she is usually giving away some really great things. This time I won! I am so excited to get my pan in the mail and start making some really tasty dishes with it to share with all of you! For those of you who don’t know what this pan is, I have posted a picture of one above. It is, to say the least, AARDVARK(aardvark, the new awesome, it’s been decided). I look forward to sharing delicious recipes that I come up with, using this fantastic gift.

I would like to gain from this experience the evidence that paying forward, good karma, etc. really does happen, and is truly a heart-warming gift!! The pan just happens to be an added bonus in this lesson of life.

In honor of gluten free, lets talk about Almong meal. It is a wonderful, healthy, protein-rich alternative to flour. I use it for baking and cooking just about anything, and it is my new best friend in this gluten-free venture.

I had never made it from scratch before trying this recipe, and I am happy to say that the result was a success. Making things from scratch is one of the most rewarding things you can do in the kitchen. You know where all the hard work and love you put into it is going and has come from–and we all know how a little hard work pays off!

Here’s to the success of blogs, to All-Clad sauté pans, and to the satisfaction of creating something of your own from scratch.

Recipe for Almond Meal:

1 lb raw almonds
2 quarts water (room temperature)

Soak almonds in water for 20-30 minutes, or until peels come off easily. The longer you soak them, the more water logged they get, but the peels get easier to remove. I only soak them for a little while because I like the satisfaction and meditation of peeling of each skin. If you are time pressed and not into this then you can soak them longer till the peels come off themselves; however you then have to let the almonds dry for as long as you let them soak.

Once all peels have been removed, let the almonds dry either in an aerated receptacle or by laying them out on parchment paper. When the almonds are completely dry, put them in the food processor or grinder and blend until they form a mealy consistency, a consistency a little denser than the consistency of corn meal. Voila! You then have almond meal ready for use in all of your upcoming baking adventures. I suggest keeping it in the fridge, covered, as it will preserve longer. Enjoy! Look forward to many more posts and recipes this year. And always keep in mind the work you put out is the work and the reward that comes back to you! Thank all of you for reading!!