Double chocolate hazelnut cookies
When I was first starting to make healthy changes to my diet and lifestyle, one of the main things that I really missed was cookies! I was never a massive fan of having lots of desserts and didn’t really have a major sweet tooth, but cookies were something that I’ve always loved to accompany a good cup of tea! Different people have different preferences when it comes to the texture of a cookie.. a little bit like with cakes and brownies. Some people like cookies that are slightly more crisp and crunchy, whilst other people prefer a gooey, cookie dough kind of texture. These particular cookies are on the softer side with delicious chunks of raw chocolate and an amazingly rich and indulgent flavour from the cacao throughout.
The good news is, they’re also made from completely natural ingredients and are vegan, gluten and refined sugar free too! AND they’re pretty simple to make, so you can whip up a batch in virtually no time at all! They make great snacks for when you find yourself fancying something a little bit sweet, or to serve to friends with a spot of afternoon tea. Baking is also a great thing to get children involved with in the kitchen and it’s great to be able to have healthier alternatives to your typical sweet treats for them to enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup hazel nuts
1/2 cup cashew nuts
3 tbsp cacao powder
5 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp almond butter
Pinch of sea salt
Tbsp water
Tsp coconut oil
Dash of vanilla extract
Raw chocolate- I used 1 bar of Ombar Centres
Method:
Preheat your oven to 175c and line a tray with baking paper.
Add the nuts into your food processor and blend to form a fine flour.
Add in the remaining ingredients (apart from the chocolate) and blend until everything is well incorporated and starts to stick together. You can add more sweetener or water if it’s not holding well enough.
Take a little of the mixture in your hands and mould into a cookie shape. Repeat with all of the mix and place the cookies onto the tray. Break up the chocolate bar into chunks and place some of the chocolate into each of the cookies.
Bake in the oven for around 12 minutes, then allow to cool completely.
By Charlotte – @charleyshealth