Double Chocolate Cherry Cookies!!!!

• 2 3/4 cups Blanched Almond Flour
• 1/2 tsp Celtic Sea Salt
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 cup Grapeseed oil
• 3/4 cup Agave Nectar
• 1 Tbs (gluten-free) Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Unsweetened Dried Cherries
• 5 ounces melted Unsweetened 99% Chocolate
• 3 Tbs Agave Nectar

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 F
• In a large bowl, mix the Blanched Almond Flour, Celtic Sea Salt, Baking Soda, and Cocoa Powder. Try to blend it so that there are no clumps.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the Grapeseed Oil, Agave Nectar, and Vanilla Extract.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Blend.
• Pour the Unsweetened Dried Cherries into the batter. Mix.
• In a pot on the stove, melt 5 ounces of unsweetened 99% Chocolate at a very low heat.
• Stir occasionally with a rubber spatula
• When it’s completely melted or very close, add 3 Tbs of Agave and mix together.
• Pour the melted, sweetened chocolate into the batter and mix
• Grease 2 cookie sheets with Grapeseed Oil
• Plop about 1 Tbs size of batter on the cookie sheet. Try to keep them a few inches a part. And try to make sure each cookie gets at least one cherry
• Bake for 10-15 minutes on the top and middle racks (Mine were done at 11 minutes)
• Let them cool for 15-20 minutes on the cookie sheets
• Plate them, and eat.
• FYI: I had enough batter to do one more cookie sheet worth of cookies.

Leftovers

-Chocolate- The reason why I go through the extra step of melting and sweetening my own chocolate is because it’s really hard to find dairy-free, gluten-free, cane sugar-free, soy-free chocolate.  Elana’s recipe calls for 73% dark chocolate, coarsely chopped.  Which would make the cookies more like chocolate cookies with chocolate chips (which is a different texture than I what end up with).  Now, I could melt and sweeten my 99% chocolate.  Let it cool. Chop it up.  And I would end up with a result much closer to Elana’s, but I don’t have the patience for that and the cookies are amazing and delicious without that extra step. So why complicate things?

-Soy- I don’t have an allergy to soy, but I try to avoid it nonetheless.  I have hypothyroidism (which basically means that my thyroid is slower than normal) and soy can block the thyroid hormone and therefore make my poor thyroid, which is struggling anyway, have to work harder.  I have felt better since cutting soy out of my diet, so I avoid it when I can.

FYI, Where and Why

-Cherries- I get my cherries at Trader Joe’s.  They’re bing cherries and they’re unsweetened. 

-Chocolate- I bought the Scharffen Berger unsweetened 99% chocolate bars at Whole Foods.

-Cocoa Powder- Trader Joe’s.  It’s not the absolute best quality in the world, but it’s organic and it’s pretty good.

-Blanched Almond Flour- I order mine online at Honeyville Grain.  The direct link is here: http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/blanchedalmondflour5lb.aspx

-Agave Nectar- I use Madhava, and I order it in bulk at Amazon.  I have found that it’s cheapest it order it in packs of 6.  It works out to just about 5 bucks a bottle since the shipping is free.

-Vanilla Extract- I buy mine online at Tropical Traditions. It’s gluten free.  The direct link is here:

http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/organic_flavor_extracts.htm

This is a slight adaptation of another great recipe by Elana Amsterdam (www.elanaspantry.com)

These cookies are delicious and fantastic.  I highly recommend.

Lovelillian

Filed in: desserts
Tagged with: Baking • Cane sugar-free • celiac • chocolate • cookies • dairy-free • Elana Amsterdam • food • gluten-free • grain-free • health • Lillian's Test Kitchen • soy-free • vegan