Tasty Tuesday: Fruit Sweetened Breakfast Cookies

Our gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free diet is still going strong.  We've been on it for about 4.5 months now.  I was pretty hard-core barely cheating the first three months, but over the past month and a half we have allowed a little sugar back into the mix.  Sugar has by far been the hardest thing to abstain from!  Although it was difficult at first, we have gotten used to eating within these parameters and it's starting to become second nature now.  Instead of looking at all the foods we can't eat and considering our diet "restrictive", we've decided to focus on all we can eat and honestly- there's tons of wonderful things to be had on this diet. We definitely have a lot more energy and feel better overall eating this way.  I still have a lot of inflammation that sadly diet has not fully taken away.  It has reduced it some though, which convinces me to keep at it.

I tried out a new breakfast item this weekend and it got rave reviews from the hubs.  The kids absolutely loved these, too.  They kind of taste like nutty-fruity muffin tops.  I doubled the recipe and it fed our family of four for three breakfasts (alongside eggs and fruit).  This is a definite keeper in my recipe book.

Fruit Sweetened Breakfast Cookies from www.againstallgrain.com

Ingredients (makes 1 dozen) 1/4 cup coconut flour 1/2 cup almond butter 6 pitted dried dates, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes 3/4 cups shredded coconut (I used Let’s Do Organic Reduced Fat Shredded Coconut) 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce 2 medium eggs (or 2 tablespoons finely ground flaxseed + 5 tablespoons warm water) 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 2 tablespoons dried unsweetened dark cherries 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts 3 tablespoons currants

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

If you’re doing the vegan version, whisk your ground flax and warm water in a bowl and let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it has thickened.

Combine the coconut flour, almond butter, and dates in a food processor.  Process until well combined and the dates have broken up into really small pieces, about a minute.

Add the shredded coconut, applesauce, eggs or flax “eggs”, cinnamon, vanilla, salt and baking soda and process for 30 seconds until a wet dough forms.

Add in the remaining ingredients, and pulse once or twice until the fruit is incorporated into the dough but chopped up.

Using an ice cream scoop or large tablespoon, drop the dough in heaping spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet lined with a SilPat or parchment paper.

Dip a metal spatula in water, and use the bottom to lightly press down each ball of dough. These cookies will not spread or rise so make sure to make them the shape you want them prior to baking.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until they are golden on top and slightly brown along the edges.