Most of the time I'm grateful that healthy eating habits have replaced my old junk-laden ways. These days I almost always reach for celery sticks over potato chips, a frozen banana over a scoop of ice cream, a crisp lettuce taco over gooey quesadillas. Every once in a while, however, I pine for a treat with a less than stellar nutrition profile. Whenever I do heed the siren call, my body is quick to remind me of the many reasons—better skin! better digestion! better moods!—why I choose to avoid the processed stuff in favor of fresh, whole foods.
Yet it's hard to shake my fondness for a few universally loved treats, with chocolate chip cookies topping the list. And because I'm all about having my cake (uh, cookie) and eating it too, I've been determined to find a healthy take on the Toll House classic—one that makes both my tastebuds and my tummy happy. So when the folks at Juice Served Here dropped a line to see if I wanted to create a recipe using goodies from their raw bake shop collection, I heard the cookie monster knocking loud and clear!
To be honest, when I first set out to make these raw, gluten free chocolate chip cookies, my expectations weren't super high. I figured at most they'd taste like a rough approximation of the 'real' thing. Imagine my delight when they turned out not simply edible but delicious! Raw almond butter and raw honey lay a foundation for a chewy, smooth dough punctuated by the nutty crunch of quinoa flakes. Raw cacao nibs provide a deep chocolatey burst with every bite, while vanilla and sea salt round out the flavors you expect from your favorite bakery's chocolate chipper.
Nutritionally speaking, these babies are jam-packed with quinoa's complete protein, almond butter's healthy fats, and raw cacao and honey's potent enzymes and phytonutrients. Plus they're no-bake, meaning you won't have to turn on the oven in the summer heat. The only problem this recipe shares with its traditional counterpart is one I'm afraid I can't help you with: Good luck resisting the dough long enough to shape them into cookies and serve!
No-Bake Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup raw almond butter
1/2 cup raw honey
2 1/2 cups quinoa flakes
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup raw cacao nibs
Combine all ingredients thoroughly in a large mixing bowl until a stiff dough forms. Cover and let sit for about an hour at room temperature. From here you can either shape the dough into balls or flat rounds. Alternatively, roll the dough into a log, wrap in parchment paper, chill, and slice into cookies. Store cookies in the refrigerator…if they last that long!
Mmmmmh this is perfect since my oven gave up on me 🙂 I can not get quinoa flakes and raw cacao nibs any Idea what I can substitute this for?