Cookies! If you hadn’t noticed, we’ve been in a bit of a baking drought since going Paleo. Initially it was because we chose to abstain from treats to better acclimate to being newly grain free. I also quickly found that Paleo baking had a learning curve that I didn’t have time for while finishing grad school. There were new flours I’d never heard of and substitutions we’d never experimented with. Needless to say, I was a little overwhelmed (and still am). My cabinet filled with bags of whole wheat flour are turning into smaller clusters of canning jars filled with various things I’m collecting as our budget allows—things like coconut flour and tapioca starch. I feel like I’m learning to bake all over again.
Thankfully I didn’t have to tap my newb skills too deeply for these cookies. They are completely grain free, and while this means they aren’t true oatmeal cookies, they’ve definitely fooled a few people.
Ingredients:
1 cup pitted dates, chopped into chunks
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons coconut oil
1/2 cup pecans
2-3 tablespoons honey
1 cup shredded coconut
2 cups almond meal
2 eggs
3/4 cup raisins
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Place dates, coconut, oil, spices and pecans in a food processor. Pulse until nuts and dates resemble large and loose crumbs.
- Transfer mix to a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix using hands.
- Form into tight hamburger-like patties and place on a greased cookie sheet
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden.
Makes 8-10 cookies.
Fair warning, make these once and you’ll be consumed by the desire to make them often. They are super healthy as well as easy to adapt for other flavors. Last night (upon Neil’s request), I added a little vanilla and cacao nibs and made chocolate chip cookies. Next, I’d like to make snickerdoodles, because my Udi’s habit is very expensive.
I just love how thick these are! I have all the ingredients on hand as well. Yumm.
That’s the best part, I always have the ingredients on hand!
I love this recipe! What is the texture like? Cakey? Chewy? And they’re so cute! I’ve been trying to make more grain-free baked goods and these look perfect. 🙂
Definitely chewy and more dense than a typical cookie, but the sweetness of the dates and raisins gives them a little bit of the cake you might crave. The finer you blend your almonds/meal and dates the more cake-like they seem to get! I hope you love them as much as we do!
I prefer chewy and less cake-like so I’ll be sure to not process them too much. Thanks for the tip! I’ll probably make them on the weekend and will be sure to let you know how they turn out.
It took me a week to remember to replenish my coconut supply for these, but they are finally in the oven! I just licked the bowl clean, so I can already tell I love them!
The dough is so good!
I made them and they were fantastic! I loved the strong nutmeg taste. Or maybe it was combination of dates and nutmeg, I don’t know. But they had a special taste and it was wonderful. Thank you so much! Oh and I used more almonds instead of the pecans. Yummy. 🙂
thank you for these! I read on a paleo blog that “no one ever craves oatmeal” and really they were so wrong. I do! These cookies might just save me from my oat-y cravings. 🙂
I was surprised at what I do and don’t crave outside of our cheat day. I really thought I’d commit murder without cheese, but I haven’t. On the other hand, I didn’t even think of oatmeal and I pine for it like mad sometimes, especially around breakfast time.