Paleo almond cookie and mini muffin.
For quite some time, I’ve been reading about the Paleo diet. Finally, as a token to the endless tradition of making resolutions on New Year’s Eve, I have joined the crowds, and made a resolution of my own. I have decided to try out this diet, for at least a month.
Paleo is not just a diet, but a way of life. As a holistic view, one should eat right, exercise daily, and sleep well (and… keep un-stressed). Sounds logical, no?
The very basic nutritional diet rules rely on the right proteins, fats, carbs and veggies. Nothing new here, right?
Well, as Paleo goes (or primal, caveman, stone-age diet), one should NOT consume refined sugar, refined salt, dairy, legumes, gluten, and processed oils. More or less.
Oy!! Then what have we left to eat??
Grass-fed meats, wild caught fish, eggs, fruits and vegetables. More or less.
Read the basics here.
Left to brighten my coffee with only almond milk (and I must confess, I’m slowly getting off coffee as well), I needed that something comforting to chew on, next to my coffee.
It didn’t take long for the aha moment to arrive.
As I make my own almond milk (easy peasy, see previous post), I’m left with all that almond pulp, which leads to… almond cookies.
for 25-30 cookies, you’ll need:
- almond-date left-over pulp from 3 cups of almonds (that were used for the almond milk);
- 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut;
- 1/4 cup natural cocoa powder (try not to use the dutch processed one);
- 1/3 cup raw sesame seeds. Some seeds, sesame among them, may be considered Paleo, yet they contain high amount of omega 6 fatty acids (compared with its low omega 3 content), which is not so good. Rule of moderation! I find 1/3 cup for 25 cookies to be OK. You can definitely play around with the quantity. Take some off, add more coconut…
- 2 Tbs raw honey, or pure maple syrup, or any combination. Those sweeteners are sugary and processed, and honey is fructose, so they are not ideal per-Se, but in this case I go for moderation again, thinking these 2 Tbs are divided among 25-30 cookies. You may want to try Stevia or dextrose. Lemme’ know if you did, and the outcome.
- 3 eggs
- optional : dates.
how-to:
heat oven to 350°f, and grease baking paper (in the pans) with coconut oil.
combine all ingredients in a bowl (excluding the optional dates).
Almond milk pulp
drop a spoon full of dough onto baking sheet, and then press it down slightly with the back of the spoon. keep them around 1 inch apart.
don’t move girls
another option is to fill a greased mini-muffin pan with the dough.
finally, you can add small chopped pieces of a date by pressing them onto the cookies or mini-muffins.
into the oven they go for 25-30 minutes, depending on your oven, until the cookies are beginning to tan. Let cookies cool outside the oven for 10 minutes.
mini muffins in pink
now, I (and you) can enjoy one (or two) cookies with our coffee.
HomeGreens 