Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fad diets are all the rage these days. There are so many people that are testing out diets just to lose weight instead of making healthier choices for the rest of their lives. Not going to lie, I've done it. I was vegetarian for 3 years, vegan for a month, pescetarian for all the times in between, and the list goes on. This year though I have really been trying to make bigger changes that last. My new years resolution was to challenge myself with something new for each month. January I gave up meat and challenged myself to eat more seafood (sustainable seafood at that). February I challenged myself to give up sugar. Since lent started in March, I gave up tortilla chips (weird I know, but when I go out for Mexican food I eat the entire complementary basket and then some). This month I've been challenging myself to make foods that I normally buy processed. I've been making my own salad dressings, chips, sauces and now cookies!

I know, I know, it's easy to make cookies from scratch. I am way more conscious of what I put into my body though and wanted to take something so unhealthy and make it better. This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, butter free, and most importantly: ALL NATURAL. I'm not going to lie and say these taste just like the most indulgent of chocolate chip cookies because they don't. They do however taste so good for being healthy and in my book, that's all that matters. You know those almond cookies you get when you order Chinese take out? That's exactly what these taste like only with chocolate chips to make them better.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

• 2 cups almond flour
• 2/3 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla
• 1/2 cup organic maple syrup (sugar free if you can find one)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. In a small bowl combine the vanilla, syrup and eggs and mix to combine. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix (starting with a spatula and then using your hands). Once mixed, add the chocolate chips. Melt the coconut oil and mix into the batter. Your batter should have the consistency of normal cookie dough, if it is too thin add more flour. 

Place tablespoon sized scoops onto a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat (if you do not have a Silpat, lightly spray your cookie sheets with cooking spray). Make sure to flatten the cookie dough with a spatula, it will not flatten as it cooks so this step is important! 

Bake for 12 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before eating. 

Recipe adapted from: Simply Taralynn