About a year and a half ago I was on a mission to be the healthiest mom I could be and rid my body of the things that were causing physical discomfort and pain. Waking up with my feet aching just didn’t seem right for someone in their mid 30’s. I had also been dealing with daily headaches since I can remember.
I just didn’t know what it was like to function without a headache.
At that time I had been attending Joyful Fitness bootcamp (you should totally check out one of her classes, she’s amazing!) for 6 months and was ready to try the Whole 30. The Whole 30 is basically a strict paleo eating plan. But it’s only for 30 days and I was determined so I jumped in….
I had to start over about 3 days in a row because I was eating things not on the plan (like corn is a no and so are peas). I thought I was doing great eating my frozen mixed veggies! Little did I know! Haha.
Long story short: my headaches are much more infrequent and I don’t wake up with joint pain anymore!
I don’t consume wheat or dairy anymore and avoid cane sugar as much as possible. It’s seriously in everything (which is annoying), but definitely causes major headaches for me within minutes.
This year the kids and I have been baking more paleo and vegan (for our friends who can’t have eggs) creations in the kitchen.
I found Paleo Running Momma on Instagram and printed off a few recipes that we wanted to try. The first one we tried is her Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies and they were a winner! Seriously, I had to put them away or the kids would have consumed all of them in one sitting.
I’m sharing this with approval from Michele over at Paleo Running Momma.
The Best Paleo and Vegan Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup coconut oil solid but softened
- 1/4 cup smooth nut butter almond or cashew butter – the creamier, the better
- 3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 3 Tbsp pure maple sugar or coconut sugar
- 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 flax egg = 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 2 1/2 Tbsp water, allowed to sit 15 minutes
- 1 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
- 1/4 cup arrowroot flour or tapioca
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
First start making the vegan egg with ground flaxseed and water because you have to let it sit for 15 minutes. For 1 egg you’ll use 1 tablespoon of flaxseed to 2.5 tablespoons of water.
The wet ingredients are, coconut oil, almond butter, coconut sugar, maple syrup, vanilla extract and finally the flax egg.
The dry ingredients for these paleo and vegan chewy chocolate chip cookies are almond flour, arrowroot, baking soda, and sea salt.
After mixing the dry ingredients I turned my mixer back on and added it to my wet mixture.
For chocolate chips I used the mini chips from the Enjoy Life brand. Since they’re mini you only have to use 1/2 the amount of chocolate chips.
On my baking sheet I used a tablespoon scoop and another spoon to drop them out on the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
I baked them for 15 minutes and then let them sit on the tray for another 5 minutes before transferring them to cool.
I doubled the batch and good thing I did because they’re soft and oh so yummy!
Make sure to head over to Paleo Running Momma to get the full paleo and vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe!
Happy baking!
