Name: Paleo Chocolate Cookies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 18
Ingredients: 1/4 cup ghee; 1/2 cup coconut sugar; 1 egg; 1 tsp vanilla; 1 cup almond flour; 1/4 cup tapioca flour; 1/4 cup raw cacao powder; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1/2 tsp sea salt; 1/3 cup chocolate chips; sea salt for garnish

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These paleo chocolate cookies with sea salt hold up on their own as is, without a “paleo” or “healthy” label. I truly became obsessed with a version of these cookies at my fave local spot, Impact Kitchen. I am actually sitting here right now writing this blog post. Once they opened up a new location right by my house (literally in my backyard) I knew it was GAME OVER. I’ve been known to walk over and pick up some paleo chocolate cookies whenever the mood struck and let’s just say it was striking more and more. So I knew I wanted to try making my own at home to save on money and just to see if I could. I am not a paleo baker at all, so using the flours were a little new to me. But once I tasted them I knew they were solid and making them into ice cream sandwiches might just be the best thing I’ve EVER done.

In order for these paleo cookies to work, I needed to ditch my tried and true flours like spelt and oat flour. I don’t work too much with almond flour or tapioca because they are kind of intimidating. But, after doing a bit of research on tapioca I quickly discovered that this magical flour was capable of some truly amazing things. It is mainly all carbohydrate as it is derived from cassava root, so it doesn’t offer up as much nutrition as other flours could in my opinion, but hey it works. Also, these are chocolate cookies after all not a kale salad, right. The other good thing about tapioca flour is that it is almost entirely flavourless, so it works well in a cookie recipe where you want to taste the other flavours.

Cassava and Tapioca Flours:

I know cassava seems to be all the rage right now, *cough* *cough* Siete chips. But it isn’t my first choice in most cases. That’s because there isn’t a whole lot of fibre in them. Fibre is your BFF and so many people are not getting enough of it. So unless you are following a grain free diet for some reason, I don’t think its necessary for most people to eat cassava everything. I will say, I have bought these chips and thought they were really tasty but they’re hard to find in Toronto so the price on them just isn’t justified for me. I don’t follow a grain free or gluten free diet so I am ok using corn tortillas when I am in the mood for a little chip and guac action. Most of the foods I eat are gluten free by nature of how I cook and eat, but I also will never say no to a good piece of sourdough. Ya feel me?

Eating Foods that You Enjoy:

When I made these paleo chocolate cookies and told Sam they were gluten free, he of course gave me a look. See, he thinks anything gluten free is disgusting (and he is wrong). So he wasn’t sure about these cookies, but once he had one (and then later, an ice cream sandwich) he quickly changed his mind. I think as long as things taste good, who cares about the label right. The same thing goes for when things aren’t as nutrient dense of course. If you truly enjoy eating something, then eat it. If it doesn’t make you feel good, then maybe don’t eat it. But otherwise, life is too short to stress about what you’re eating. You can read all about how to let go of food guilt and embrace intuitive eating here. I had wayyyyy too much fun shooting these paleo chocolate cookies as ice cream sandwiches. I had to keep running back and forth to the freezer so they wouldn’t melt entirely. I also made the mistake of not having my AC on at the time and things almost got out of hand! I quickly realized my error and turned that shit back on. But shooting these made me realize how much I missed food photography and how I have kind of let myself slack off a bit on that front. Recently, my creativity and passion has been reignited and I am having A LOT of fun photographing again. Notice the drips in this photo… haha.

My One Tip for Any Entrepreneur/Business Owner or Nutritionist:

I get asked a lot by other nutritionists how I have been able to get to where I am at now. And that is why I have written all about those things here and here. One of the things I have learned through the years is that, persistence matters. It’s really fucking easy to give up, to say screw it, this is too hard. Building your own business and brand is tough. In the beginning, I am sure nobody was reading my blog, I wanted to throw in the towel multiple times. But I didn’t. Perhaps its my persistent Capricorn nature but honestly, I knew that what I wanted to do and what I wanted to accomplish was far more important. There were days (and still are) that I question what I am doing and want to just give up. But, the thought of staying stuck where I was quickly reminds me to “man up” for lack of a better word and put in the work. So if you are working on something of your own, just know that you gotta keep your mind on the prize, stay focused and persistent. Don’t pay attention to what anyone else is doing. Just do you. And, if you are having a day (or week/month) where the creativity isn’t coming or you’re feeling stuck, just know that this too shall pass.