September 26, 2012

Brownie Chocolate Chip Cookies - Free of: Grains, Gluten, Eggs, Casein, Sugar*


Brownie Chocolate Chip Cookies


A grain-free and sugar free diet may not be the easiest diet to follow, but you know I am absolutely grateful that the diet I eat is a health and life giving diet.  I am looking back with eyes that see how I was being led in the right direction for the best health.  My thoughts lately have been a lot about sugar and how detrimental sugar is to health. Specifically, I am pondering the recommendations of drastically reducing sugar for cancer prevention.. (I find all nutrition studies very interesting.)  It makes sense to me because sugar weakens the immune system.  My studies have taught me that the body turns grains into sugar. It is after reading these studies that I am totally grateful I have eaten sugar-free for the past 11 years or longer and grain-free for 2 years.  Grain-free was my missing puzzle piece.

My readers may know that my boys have been riding along with me on my "sugar-free" diet for quite awhile.  My blog has a mixture of recipes...most that my boys like, but always low in sweeteners and most often use stevia.  Some of my blog posts share recipes that my boys are allowed to eat,  but I may not be able to eat due to the fact that I began slowly introducing small amounts of raw honey into their diet this past year.  I think they are doing well with it.  They are pretty happy with this diet change.

Most of the recipes I share are the recipes that I feel meet the needs of most readers or may be easily adapted.  I may be a bit shy sharing my candida-friendly recipes for fear that no one except me would eat them! Maybe that will change, but for certain I don't feel I can label my recipes as candida-friendly for everyone. After all, I am not a doctor, so I don't give medical advice! ;)  I just share what works for me and my family.

My boys are now 17 and 11 (for one more week). It is a balancing act to guide and teach our children, but yet at some point we need to let out the ropes, so to speak, and allow them to learn about food and their bodies.  We hope that our teachings will be past down to generations to come and that our firm stance against "bad" unfood will produce healthy eating habits and not rebellious eaters.

This week, I have had the pleasure of observing my teenage son while he has been studying the Real Food and Nutrition E-Course written by Kristen Michaelis. You may know Kristen as the writer of the popular blog Food Renegade.com.. The lessons in this E-Course reinforce the healthy lifestyle and  principles that I have adopted in our home. It excites me that my son is gaining knowledge about "real" food in this e-course.

I love that he wants to engage in conversation about the cool things he is learning about health and nutrition regarding whole unprocessed food.  Today he asked me, "What is buttermilk?" Then he decided to research for himself just how to make it with non-dairy milk and told me he wants to make pancakes next time with "buttermilk".  I am delighted to see this spark of interest in the food he eats and especially that he wants to cook for himself. 

Hopefully, my story will encourage you to keep on setting a healthy example for your family and one day you will see that they will understand.  It is all worth the effort to have a healthy family.

Okay, so here I share with you a healthy cookie to enjoy while I ponder more about sugar....
With our love to you!



 Brownie Chocolate Chip Cookies

Free of: Gluten, Grains, Casein, Eggs, & Sugar*


Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Equipment:
  • electric mixer  
  • "Measure-All" wet dry measuring cup -optional, but very helpful for measuring
First, mix the wet ingredients in the electric mixer bowl.

  Wet ingredients:
  • 2 Tablespoons chia seed meal
  • 10 Tablespoons applesauce (1/2 cup + 2 T)
  • 5 Tablespoons palm shortening
  • 15 drops stevia 
  • 2 Tablespoons honey
  • 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Add in dry ingredients and mix well.
  Dry ingredients:
  • 3 Tablespoons raw cacao powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 cup pecan meal
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

Shape into small cookies with your hands.  They do not spread out on their own so they need a little help from you.

Press Enjoy Life Chocolate chips into the top of each cookie before baking
*To be truly "sugar-free" you will need to leave this brand of chocolate chips off.* 
(Today I saw a recipe for DIY homemade chocolate chips made with honey and I would love to make them for my boys.  If you have made them I would love to hear from you.)

Bake 10 minutes on parchment lined baking sheet.


13 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh Debbie!! You are making me drool. Those look so good.

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  2. These look great, Debbie! Is cacao powder what you used? Or is there a raw cocoa powder different from that? Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. Oh, my! Mark K thank you for noticing my error. I corrected the post and linked to the cacao powder that I used in the recipe. Sorry for the confusion. ;)

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  3. These look so good! I can not wait to try them!

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  4. I would love to look at your candidia diet recipes. Yeast is a big allergy of mine, not just an intolerance, that started as an overgrowth that I have been fighting for 6 years.

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  5. Hi,
    Will you please post a link to your Blog at The Gluten-Free Community? Our members will appreciate it.
    Members include: Those living Gluten-Free, Gluten-Free Experts, Advocates and Organizations.
    It's easy to do, just cut and paste the link and it automatically links back to your website. You can also share Articles, News, Photos and Videos if you like.
    Email me if you need any help or would like me to do it for you.
    Please feel free to share as often and as much as you like.
    The Gluten-Free Community: http://www.vorts.com/gluten_free/
    I hope you consider sharing with us.
    Thank you,
    James Kaufman, Editor

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just wanted to drop by and say hello! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Dear!

      Thank you for dropping by! I have been thinking of you and will send you a message of the good things going on here. Hope you had a nice holiday.

      Delete
  7. Hi Debbie,
    Just wanted to thank you for your posts and for not being ashamed of the Gospel- to put it on your page where everyone can see! That alone is encouraging, but combined with the fact that I feel like we are on the "same page" as far as training our children in this lifestyle is doubly encouraging! Alas, I'm not the only one out there trying to teach my children about the dangers of "unfoods" and the benefits of real whole foods, so that they might be able to grow up knowing how to make the best choices for health when they are older. Its such a blessing knowing I'm not alone in this endeavor of being not only vegetarian, but also egg, dairy, gluten, and sugar-free too! Although I'm not sure if you and your family are vegetarian- and thats fine if your not- just from the few recipes I've seen of yours, they could be considered as such :) Keep up the good work, and I hope your encouraged and blessed to know your ARE indeed blessing countless others! :)
    Jenell Magrum

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jenell,
      It was so wonderful to be encouraged this day when I read your kind words! Thank you for taking time to write and share with me. It is very nice to know you are encouraged and find us to be on the "same page" in life. You are not alone! I understand that feeling and love "meeting" new people who endeavor to live a healthy life and make choices that might not be accepted by those around us...here, on my blog we can be like "neighbors" sharing food and thoughts! Glad you came by for a visit and thank you, again for blessing me today!

      Delete

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