Years ago, when I first started transitioning from a Standard American Diet (SAD) to a Paleo diet, I was really struggling with saying goodbye to all my favorite things like pasta, bread, and delicious sugary sweet treats. I tried several substitutes for pasta and finally found a few that I loved (zoodles and spaghetti squash) but I had yet to find a solid substitute for my sweet tooth. Note – this was years before brands were making clean versions of cookies and chocolate that are now stocked on most health food store shelves.

I took my search to the internet and stumbled upon one of the Paleo OG’s, Civilized Caveman, and discovered his chocolate chip cookie recipe. I was wary of the nut flour use and had barely ever heard of coconut oil but I decided to give it a go and tried my very first Paleo version of a chocolate chip cookie. And I wasn’t disappointed! I played around with the recipe a bit the next few times I made it and came up my own version that I still love to this day – and my kids love it too!

Keep in mind that if you are new to a real food diet that it might take some time for your palate to adapt to new foods like almond flour in place of white flour and 100% maple syrup in place of white sugar. Keep trying them! Keep perusing different recipes! Over time your palate will start to adjust and suddenly you’ll find yourself craving things like almond flour chocolate chip cookies over a sugar laden chocolate chip cookie. Miracles do happen, folks. I know because it happened to me!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups almond flour

3 tbsp coconut flour

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 pastured egg

1/2 cup melted unrefined coconut oil

1/2 cup 100% maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup dark chocolate chips (I like to use Enjoy Life chocolate chip morsels)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350

Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl

Mix all wet ingredients in another bowl

Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients bowl and mix well

Add in cup of chocolate chips and mix well

Add heaping spoonfuls of dough to well oiled pan (should create about 12 cookies)

Cook for 15 minutes

NOTES: 

When mixing wet ingredients do the coconut oil first and then use the same cup to measure out the syrup – it will pour right out since the cup was oiled first.

These will look like they aren’t quite done yet when you take them out of the oven but trust me, they’re best when they slightly mushy in the middle. Only the top of the cookie needs to be slightly browned.