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To enter to win, you must subscribe to Tropical Traditions newsletter and comment on this blog post with what you would make or do with the coconut oil if you win. They do not sell any info and this will allow you to receive email updates of all of their sales…they have a lot! I order so many things from them including their farm fresh soy free eggs, grass-fed ground beef, coconut oil, flour and cream. The winner will be randomly chosen on March 6th.
Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.
Place the cashews and coconut in a food processor and pulse until a coarse sand texture is created
Add the sweetener, vanilla beans, salt and soda and pulse until combined
Add in the oil and coconut milk and pulse again to form a dough
Using a cookie scoop or spoon, place balls of dough on a parchment cookie sheet and press down slightly on each dough ball. They will spread more in the oven
Place an additional cookie sheet under the other sheet to prevent the bottoms of the cookies from browning too much
Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, until slightly brown
Remove from the oven and let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes to set then place them on a cooling rack to get crisp
Store in an airtight container
Quick notes
*I used about 1/2 cup of Swerve and a tablespoon of coconut palm sugar to make these low in sugar.
I’m going to keep this short and sweet and to the point. If you haven’t tried the Chocolate Drop Cookies recipe yet, you need to! You will love them, unless you are not a coconut person and that is why I created a coconut free no bake cookie! I loooove the coconut chocolate cookies, but these are darn good as well…different good! And, no bake cookies are so easy and quick!
Recipe: Chocolate Cherry No Bake Cookies
Ingredients
3 tbsp grass-fed butter or coconut oil* (or combo)
1/8 cup vanilla dairy free milk (I prefer So Delicious no sugar vanilla coconut milk)
1/2 cup granulated sweetener** (I used Swerve for no sugar option)
3/4 cup raw almonds
1/2 – 2/3 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup almond butter
1 generous tbsp cocoa/cacao powder
Instructions
Place the almonds in a food processor and pulse until they are ground into pieces. Add the cherries and pulse again, set aside
In a saucepan, melt the butter/oil with the milk, sugar and cocoa/cacao powder. Bring to a boil for 1-2 minutes
Remove from heat and add the almond butter, nuts and cherry mixture and stir until combined
Place spoonfuls of the mixture onto a parchment lined plate or small cookie sheet
Place the cookies in the freezer for about 15 minutes to set
Store cookies in the refrigerator or freezer in an airtight container
Quick notes
*Make sure the oil is expeller pressed (Tropical Traditions sells this) or refined coconut oil so you do not have coconut tones in the cookies.
**I have not tried this with a liquid sweetener. I think it will work, but I would start with only a 1/4 cup.
Variations
These can be made with any dried fruit, nut and nut butter. I used sliced almonds to avoid skins in this recipe, but whole almonds will work.
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I tried to stay away from chocolate for awhile…it was a short while! Now it’s time for Valentine’s Day recipes and it just wouldn’t be right to not include chocolate! The good news is that these are made with cocoa powder and Swerve Sweetener (my favorite natural sweetener than contains no sugar!) and dark chocolate chips, so they are fairly low in sugar.
I debated over using cherries or strawberries in this recipe. I think both are a part of many Valentine’s celebrations with chocolate covered cherries found in most assorted chocolate boxes and chocolate dipped strawberries a favorite of many this time of year. I chose strawberries since fresh organic berries are available right now and cherries are only found frozen this time of year. I highly suggest fresh fruit for the lower moisture content. Frozen fruit lets off more moisture and will make these extra gooey. These cookies are already gooey and that’s why they are named brownie cookies. These can also be made with no fruit, but I would add an extra tablespoon of coconut milk to create more moisture. Either way, these are delicious!!!
You will see in the instructions that you melt the butter/oil and add in the cacao/cocoa powder. I learned that cocoa powder gives a better chocolate flavor to baked goods instead of using unsweetened chocolate. But…to bring out the flavor of the powder, it must be added to a warm liquid to bring out the flavor molecules. These turned out very chocolatey and maybe this is why, I only tried it this way. I certainly don’t need to make another batch to test this theory, two batches were enough to consume this week!!!
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1/2 cup granulated sweetener (I prefer Swerve or erythritol for a sugar free option)
3 tbsp full fat coconut milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips*
1/2 cup fresh strawberries, chopped**
Instructions
Melt the butter/oil in a saucepan. Once melted, add the cocoa/cacao powder and 1/4 cup of chocolate chips and remove from heat
Once the chocolate chips have melted, add the coconut milk, sweetener and vanilla and blend with hand mixer
Combine the almond flour, salt and soda in a mixing bowl. Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir well
Fold in the additional 1/2 cup chocolate chips and strawberries
Bake at 350 on a parchment lined cookie sheet for 11-13 minutes
Let cookies set up on the cookie sheet for at least 5 minutes or they will fall apart
Let cool on a cooling rack to continue to set up
Store in an airtight container
Quick notes
I highly recommend using Honeyville flour or these may turn out very very gooey.
Variations
*To make these dairy free, use Enjoy Life Choclate Chips or Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks and coconut oil.
**Any fruit would work in these, but please read the text above about fresh versus frozen fruit. If you want to leave the fruit out, read the text above as well for modifications.
These may also work in an 8×8 greased pan to create brownies. The cooking time will be longer and the inside may not get cooked through. I have not tried this, but I’d be just fine eating these with a spoon if need be!!!
One last cookie recipe for the Holidays! These shortbread cookies have the perfect crunch and buttery flavor. I am learning to really like the cranberry and orange flavor pairing and it’s the perfect combo for Christmas.
Cranberries are a very low sugar fruit making them a great low carb option for cakes, cookies and muffins. I did have to add arrowroot flour t0 this recipe to get them to hold together and retain their crunch. It does add a bit of starch to this recipe, but it’s such a minimal amount! The fourth cup only adds about two carbs per cookie. I also used Swerve as the sweetener in this recipe to keep the sugar amount low, that way you can have more than one without guilt!!!
Today’s recipe is a Holiday classic! This grain free thumbprint cookie recipe comes from Leeann, the creator of the blog www.cutthewheatblogspot.com. I decided to make these today and used chocolate as the filling to make them even more decadent and because I didn’t have jelly on hand. These are delicious and so buttery! They were a huge hit around here and there aren’t many left. My batch spread out a lot more than hers, as you can see. I think I pushed down the batter too much, but that certainly doesn’t affect the taste. I used about 4 dark chocolate chips in each cookie and added the chips after they had baked for about 15 minutes and then baked an additional 5 minutes.
Enjoy Leeann’s story and her recipe below!
Amidst the trays of colorful iced angels, Russian tea cakes, gingerbread men and coconut macaroons lie my favorite cookie of all time: jam thumbprints. These tasty cookies have a buttery, tender dough that gets rolled in crunchy nuts and then topped off with fruit jam. To me, they are the quintessential Christmas cookie. I can almost still feel the slimy raw eggs on my hands as I rolled the dough in the nut mixture as a child. My mom insisted on putting the jam in, though!
When I started reducing, and eventually eliminating, wheat from my diet, I thought I’d bid my favorite cookie goodbye forever. I was willing to do just that, but on a whim, I decided to come up with a test recipe for my beloved cookie this holiday season. I’m proud to announce that with a few hours of hard work, I made myself a fantastic recipe that ‘s so close to the real thing even my husband, daughter and in-laws, all wheat and sugar consumers, couldn’t tell the difference.
These cookies are not only wheat free—they are completely grain free. If you prefer, you can refrain from rolling the cookies in nuts and simply place the jam in the middle. They’re delicious all the same!
Recipe: Grain Free Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
3/4 cup butter, softened (or 1/2 c coconut oil for vegan)
2/3 cup granulated sweetener (I used erythritol)*
8 drops liquid Stevia
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg (for dough)
1 beaten egg (to help nuts stick to dough balls)
3/4 cup crushed walnuts or pecans (optional)
* Gluten free, sugar-free jam for topping (I used peach, strawberry and raspberry no sugar Polaner)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 and coat cookie sheet in nonstick spray.
In large mixing bowl, cream together butter, erythritol, stevia and vanilla.
Add in the egg and lightly mix until smooth. Slowly mix in almond and coconut flour.
Ball up the dough into one tablespoon servings, and roll each ball in the beaten egg, and then cover in chopped nuts.
Place each cookie a few inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Use a greased thumb or small spoon to create indents in each cookie, then fill with approx.. ¼ – ½ tsp. of jam.
Bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes or until cookies are very slightly browned at the edges. Allow to cool and set for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Enjoy!
*I used Swerve as the sweetener in place of all other sweeteners to keep this a low sugar treat.
After making the Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Bars.…I immediately thought about all of the other bar recipes I could create. These Apple Pie Cookie Bars are perfect for this time of year! I originally wanted to make a dairy free caramel sauce to drizzle over these, but I haven’t perfected it yet and wanted to get this recipe out to you! These are the perfect addition to your Holiday breakfast menu or dessert menu!!!
Apples can shrivel up when used in baking, such as in pies. The type of apple can contribute to this, that is why I included Granny Smiths since they hold up well when baked. They also add a bit of tartness paired with a sweeter apple like the Fuji. Feel free to use whatever variety you want or have on hand.
To help retain the apple’s structure, I have pre-cooked the apples before placing them in the oven. This allows the pectin to go to work and hold the apple’s structure. Pectin is like the mortar that holds the bricks (cellulose) together. If either one of them is destroyed, the apple collapses, loses volume, and releases liquid. The lemon juice is added to the apples to keep them from turning brown.
These thin, crispy and buttery cookies are sure to melt in your mouth and satisfy your sweet tooth!! The toffee like flavor pairs perfectly with the dark chocolate drizzle, but these are delicious without it as well! These may be one of my new favorites…and they are super easy!
This recipe uses a french technique known as browning butter. It adds a nutty flavor and almost a caramel or butterscotch flavor in this particular recipe. It would be a great addition to frosting as well!!
Brown butter is made by cooking butter long enough to turn the milk solids and salt particles brown while cooking out any water present. It has a more complex flavor than melted or clarified butter. Brown butter is traditionally served with fish, but makes for a delicious drizzle for vegetables such as brussels sprout and broccoli! Maybe a brown butter vegetable dish needs to be on my to do list!!!
Inspired by a Fine Cooking Recipe
Recipe: Macadamia Lace Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup raw macadamia nuts, dry roasted and chopped
1/2 cup grass-fed butter
1 cup granulated sugar (I used Swerve for no sugar option)
1 egg, beaten
couple sprinkles of sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cups dark chocolate (optional)
Instructions
Slowly roast the nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until slightly brown. Remove and let cool in a single layer in the refrigerator
Place the butter in the skillet and heat over medium heat until browned butter is reach. The butter will boil, bubble and then start to show brown flecks. Remove once it is brown, pour into bowl and let cool for 5 minutes
Once the nuts have cooled, place them in a food processor and ground to rough sand consistency. If they are warm, you will end up with nut butter
Place the nuts, sweetener, salt, egg and vanilla in a bowl and mix well. Add the butter and combine
Place about a tablespoon full of batter onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. These will double in size so spread them out
Bake at 350 for 5-7 minutes or until edges are slightly brown
Remove from heat and let them cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then move the parchment to the counter to cool completely
In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips
Pour the chocolate into a small ziploc once it’s cooled a bit
Cut a tiny piece off the corner of the bag and squeeze the chocolate to drizzle over the cookies
Place in the freezer or refrigerator to set
If these are stored in the refrigerator, they may become not as crispy
Pizzelles were a Christmas tradition around our house. They were one of my favorite cookies; light, crispy, not to sweet, but full of flavor. I was up to the challenge of creating a grain free version and am very excited to share this recipe with you!!
According to Wikipedia: Pizzellesare traditional Italian waffle cookies made from flour, eggs, sugar and butter and flavoring (often vanilla, anise or lemon zest) Pizzelles can be hard and crisp or soft and chewy depending on the ingredients and method of preparation.
Pizzelles were originally made in the Abruzzo region of south-central Italy. The name comes from the Italian word for “round” and “flat” (pizze); this is also the meaning of the word pizza.
The cookie dough or batter is put into a Pizzelle Iron, which resembles a waffle iron. Typically, the iron stamps a snowflake pattern onto both sides of the thin golden-brown cookie, which has a crisp texture once it is cooled. There are also several brands of ready-made pizzelle available in stores.
I obviously used a Pizzelle Iron, but these cookies could be baked in the oven as well. The iron makes them nice and crispy, but I think the butter in this dough will make them spread and become thin as they bake. The iron also leaves a perfect imprint for the holiday season, so if you love these cookies, it’s worth buying a Pizzelle Iron!
Beat the eggs and sugar together. Add the butter and anise and mix well
In another mixing bowl, combine the flour, arrowroot and soda
Combine the two bowls until smooth
Once the iron is hot, spoon a tablespoon of batter into center of each pattern on the iron. Press down for about 8-10 seconds until golden
Use a metal spatula to remove each cookie and place them on a cooling rack. Let them cool in a single layer so they can harden and become crisp.
To make these in the oven, I would spoon out batter on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 until golden brown.
Variations
These can also be made with vanilla extract. Start with a teaspoon and increase to desired flavor.
I tried to make these last season with no luck. I realized this time around, that they needed some starch for the crunch and to help hold this fragile cookie together. I was thrilled that these turned out this year…and got crisp once they cooled!!!!
I think I am more excited about my sugar free frosting than I am about these cookies!! I always have loved frosting…forget the cookie or cake, I just want to scrape the frosting off! I’m also pretty excited about coloring the frosting red and green…well pink and green…with natural ingredients like spinach and beet juice. Don’t worry, you will never know they are in there and you can certainly leave the frosting white.
I made two different recipes so that I could give an egg free option as well. I personally prefer the one with egg in it and butter. Butter really does make everything better and when it comes from grass-fed cows, it’s so good for you too! The recipe with butter and an egg is your traditional sugar cookie recipe and makes a crispy on the outside and soft on the inside cookie. The recipe that uses shortening tends to make the cookies soft all around. To decorate the wreaths, I used chopped pistachios and craisins. It’s hard to find sprinkles that aren’t just straight sugar and fake colorings. Whole Foods does sell naturally colored sprinkles, but they are just colored sugar if you just cant be without sprinkle!
3 tbsp grass-fed butter (it may work to use additional coconut cream instead. You may need to add more flavoring to hide coconut taste)
3 tbsp coconut cream (the cream that rises to the top of full fat coconut milk when nit it refrigerated)
3 tbsp full fat coconut milk (room-temp can that you have shaken)
1/2 tsp almond extract (or vanilla)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 small beet root (optional)
6 or more spinach leaves (optional)
Instructions
Option 1
Cream together the butter and sugar
Add the egg and vanilla and continue mixing
In another mixing bowl, combine the flour, soda and salt
Fold the flour mixture into the wet mixture and combine, should be thick dough
Egg-Free Option:
Cream together the shortening, honey and vanilla
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, soda and salt
Combine the two bowls and mix until dough forms
For both variations:
Place dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours
Sprinkle flour on the counter and rub it on the rolling pin
Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out to desired cookie thickness and press with cookie cutters
Place cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet
Bake at 350 for 5-7 minutes, until they are slightly brown on the edges
Let cool completely before frosting
Frosting:
Place the butter and sugar in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Cook until butter is softened, not melted
Stir the sugar and butter together and add to a blender with the coconut cream, coconut milk and flavoring
Blend until smooth. If frosting is too runny, put it in the refrigerator to thicken
Add spinach leaves to make green or add beet juice*** to make red or simply leave white
Quick notes
*If you choose to use Xylitol honey, add a tablespoon of granulated sweetener as well
**You can powder any sweetener by putting it in a blender or coffee grinder
***To make beet juice, place a small peeled beet root in a saucepan with about 2 tablespoons of water and heat until the water turns red. Pour into the frosting until desired colored
I think these cookies and almost all almond flour baked goods, taste best out of the refrigerator or freezer!
This cookie recipe turned out better than I could have imagined! I think I have become slightly addicted to them…hence eating them as part of my breakfast and lunch today! They are basically sugar free, but still, it’s time to give the rest away before I eat the entire pan! ‘Tis the season!!!
The bottom of these remind me of an Oreo like cookie. I made them to be more like a crust rather than a soft cookie. If you prefer soft, even though I think the way they are is amazing, you could probably add an egg to the recipe and a bit of baking soda. This has given me a couple of other ideas of bars to make, so expect another one this month!
As you can see the candy on top isn’t a bright red like traditional peppermint candies. Well, that’s what happens when things are colored naturally and not with RED #40! I found these candy canes at Whole Foods, yes they have cane sugar, but at least they don’t have high fructose corn syrup and red dye! You could certainly leave the candy off, but it does add some crunch and additional peppermint flavor. The red, or should I say pink frosting color is also natural and I will share my trick below! I have a special ingredient for green as well that will be revealed in my Sugar Cookie Recipe!!!
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until combined
Press the batter into an 8×8 greased pan
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes
Let cool completely
Frosting
Place the butter and sweetener in a pan on medium heat until butter starts to melt. Remove from heat and stir well
Pour the mixture into a Vitamix or blender with the coconut cream, coconut milk and peppermint flavoring. Blend until smooth
Peel the small beet root and place in a saucepan with about 2 tbsp water and cook over medium heat until the water is red.
Pour some of the red water into your frosting and stir until desired color is reached.
Place the frosting in the refrigerator to set if it’s runny
Once the cookie has cooled, spread the frosting evenly and sprinkle the crushed candy over the wet frosting
Place in the frig to let the frosting set.
Store in the refrigerator (I think these taste best straight out of the refrigerator!)
Quick notes
*You can powder any sweetener by placing it in a coffee grinder or in a blender. The frosting will be grainy if you skip this step and that may not bother you.
**You may be able to used 2 additional tablespoons of coconut cream instead of butter in the frosting. I haven’t tried it but it should work. It may just make it more coconuty and more peppermint extract may be needed.
Variations
For those that do not like peppermint, try any other flavor extract or simply use vanilla. Add 1/4 tsp to start in case it’s a stronger extract.
Snow is headed our direction and I think these would be delicious served with some Dairy Free Hot Chocolate!!!
Win 1 quart of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil!
or 
These thin, crispy and buttery cookies are sure to melt in your mouth and satisfy your sweet tooth!! The toffee like flavor pairs perfectly with the dark chocolate drizzle, but these are delicious without it as well! These may be one of my new favorites…and they are super easy!
