Gluten-Free Coconut Cookies

We often have all the neighbourhood kids playing in our backyard and sometimes they ask for cookies or treats. But one of the kids has a nut allergy so I wanted to try and make a paleo-ish, nut free cookie. I was debating between this coconut cookie recipe and the paleo nut-free not-sugar cookies.

I decided on the coconut cookies. I substituted the sugar for coconut palm sugar, which is brown, so the cookies are darker then the picture from the website. I also tried two different variations. One I tried the exact recipe without the shredded coconut and added chocolate chips. I'm not a huge fan of macaroons, but it would be great to have a gluten-free, nut-free chocolate chip recipe.

They turned out great! I also tried the regular recipe with chocolate chips. They were definitely a favourite over the chocolate-chip-free cookies. Who wouldn't prefer a cookie with chocolate chips anyway? Everything's better with chocolate!  As you can see from the pictures, they don't flatten out at all, so you want to form them into the exact shape you want. The second batch I put in the oven I formed into balls and flattened to look more like traditional cookies.

  

These were really good! The favourites were the ones without the coconut flakes though, so I will have to try a whole batch of those!

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Hummus

So I decided to finally try and make some "paleo-ish" hummus. It has tahini, which I guess some people wouldn't consider to be paleo, but I think in small amounts, it's not too big of a deal.  I looked up some recipes and didn't find anything that I liked exactly as it was, so I made my own by just adding a little of each ingredient until I was happy with the flavour.  Here is the final recipe:

1 small head of cauliflower

3 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp tahini

6 cloves roasted garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

dash of parsley flakes and paprika

So I thought it was pretty good. Madison loves dips of any form, so she was instantly sold. Brad was so-so on it. He said he could taste the cauliflower, and he doesn't normally like cauliflower, so it didn't 'quite' hide the taste enough for him. But he did say that he could get used to it. He also brought up how yummy my 'normal' hummus is! lol! Maybe I'll have to try getting him used to half-and-half chick peas and cauliflower and slowly add more cauliflower.

Flourless Peanut butter cookies (not paleo)

So my step-sister introduced me to the "Kraft" peanut butter cookie, which is a flourless peanut butter cookie recipe. It's surprisingly good for being such a simple recipe.
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
So naturally I had to see if it worked with natural peanut butter instead of Kraft. And sure enough it does! I've also tried replacing the refined sugar with coconut palm sugar and it works exactly the same and personally I like the taste better that way.

My attempt at blogging... again

So, I've decided to try and maintain a blog again... I think in the past when I've tried blogging I've tried to make a specific topic, but I haven't been able to stick to it. So, now I've decided to start a random blog about whatever comes to my mind. The subjects will range anywhere from recipes to diapers to politics to gardening or whatever I'm thinking about at the time. I was prompted to start blogging today because I was feeding Madison some breakfast (apple slices with almond butter) and she asked if it was dessert because she was enjoying it so much! I've been thinking a lot about meal planning, so I think I'll do a post about that next.