Monday, February 18, 2013

Experimental Paleo Baking

I had no idea how addicted to Gluten I am, until we started trying to follow a Paleo Diet at the beginning of the year.  I craved toast, pizza, MONKEY BREAD...fortunately, some of those cravings have subsided.  However, I'm not sure that I will ever get over my love of pizza!  And I haven't gotten brave enough to try "Paleo Pizza Crust".  Somehow, I can't get my head around using mashed cauliflower for the crust - pretty sure that it would not emulate the crust from The La Pizza House!

So, I've decided to start experimenting with other baking using Paleo ingredients.  There are lots of resources out there - some are more paleo than others.  I'm not super fussy about that - after all, this blog is called "Almost Paleo".  I come from a long line of cooks, so it's fun to experiment and see how I can make a beloved, full-gluten recipe fit for a caveman.

Last week, I ran across a Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe on www.thepintsizebaker.com.  She cooks all kinds of good stuff, but decided to post this recipe of her trainer, Clark.  I'm now sharing it with you and including the changes I made:

Paleo Chocolate Chunk Cookies
3 1/4 C Almond Flour 
1 t salt 
1 t baking soda 
2  eggs, room temperature 
1 t pure vanilla 
1/2 C honey (maple syrup or agave will work) 
1/2 C coconut oil, melted 
1/2 bar special dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (I didn't have Carib)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 

Combine dry ingredients in 1 bowl and mix well.  In another bowl, combine wet ingredients.  Gradually incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well combined.  Lastly add the chocolate chunks that have been pulsed in Food Processor to desired coarseness. 

Do will be fairly sticky - it can be refrigerated to firm it up if desired.  Spoon the batter onto the baking sheet and bake for 8 - 10 minutes.  Once they are completely cooled, you may want to store in the refrigerator as they tend to be soft and a little sticky.  

NOTE:  I've found that the Almond Flour I picked up in the Organic Section at the grocery was course and gritty.  I just bought some from Nuts.com and think it's consistency is much better!

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