ALMOND COOKIES WITH A CARAMEL FILLING WITH CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE

That's right! I've done it. After years of sadness over the fact that I can't eat classic caramel, due to it's mass amounts of refined sugar and dairy (BAD BAD BAD) I have created, through trial and error, the most AMAZING caramel recipe this world has ever seen! AND TASTED!

During the day I'm usually running around cleaning, changing Kyri's cloth diaper butt, driving kids to school & picking them up, doing the shopping for the day and getting dinner ready. Kyri and I play outside and take Mugsy for walks. Then I do more driving for Chloe's dance and make sure Seth get's his reading done for the day, and then make sure I get in some cuddle time with Tod on the couch... that makes me extra busy mom. Tod is busy once or twice a week, watching UFC or hanging out with a guy friend so I do get some time to myself.

If your wondering where and how I get all my creative inspiration - when I breastfeed Kyri a hormone called oxytocin and prolactin are released. They make me feel more nourturing and they get my sences firing. I always imagine desserts and dishes I want to create and with my hormones flying, I get super stoked. Sometimes I write down my ideas and sometimes I just wing it. This was a winger, which I ran to the computer and wrote down AFTER I bit into a cookie and was like "F YES!"

This is one of the first times that I used coconut sugar. It's dried from the sap of the coconut palm flower. It's great to use instead of that nasty white sugar. Please feel free to use coconut sugar in place of white sugar in any recipe!

This recipe is gluten-free, and there is a vegan option as well. And I would never used refined sugar so it is free of that as well. HORRAY!! So go ahead and eat the whole batch of cookies but I would suggest to eat three cookies, once a day and share with friends so they feel the love!

Be sure to make the caramel filling first!

CHECK THIS OUT YO!

ALMOND COOKIES WITH A CARAMEL FILLING WITH CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE
Makes 13-15 cookies

Ingredients

Cookies
Dry

• 1 cup almond flour/meal
• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 tsp. potato starch
• 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar

Wet

• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 3 tsp. maple syrp or unpasteurized honey
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. ground flax seed w/ 6 Tbsp filtered water, mixed and let set in the fridge for 10 minutes

Caramel

• 1/4 can coconut milk
• 2 heaping tsp. almond butter
• 2 tsp. unpasteurized honey
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. maple syrup
• pinch of celtic sea salt
• 3 dates, pitted & soaked in hot water

Chocolate Sauce

• 3 tsp. coconut oil
• 3 tsp. cacao powder (raw cacao - tastes 10 X better the caocao powder)
• 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. unpasteurized honey or clear agave (for vegans)
• 1 tsp. cacao butter or 4 cacao butter discs

What to do

1. Caramel - In a medium sauce pan, over the lowest heat, melt all the ingredients except the dates. Stir well and add to a high speed blender with the dates. Blend until smooth. Add to a freezer safe bowl and freeze until ready to use.

2. Cookies - Preheat oven to 350° F (177° C). Add flax mixture to a bowl and stir. Place into the fridge for 5 minutes to thicken. Mix dry ingredients until all the flour clumps are gone. Add wet ingredients to a bowl and melt coconut oil and honey. Add bowl to a pot of hot water, using the double boiler method. Add wet ingredients to the dry and stir, don't forget about the flax mixture in the fridge. Form into balls with your hands and need for 1 minute. Lay out saran wrap on the counter and grab a ball of dough, 1/4 of the dough, and place it on the saran wrap. Rip another piece of saran warp to place on top of the dough, now roll it thin, around 5mm thin. Cut out cookies with your favourite cookie cutters. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in the oven for 9-10 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown. Let sit on the sheet for 10 minutes, then move to a cooling rack. Use up all the dough. I used two large cookie sheets and make cookies of all different sizes. Remember you will need two cookies to make 1 cookie. :P

3. Chocolate Sauce - Melt all the ingredients in a medium sauce pan on the lowest heat. Stir and blend in a high speed blender to combine.

4. To build each cookie - Turn one cookie upside down and spread a thin layer of chocolate sauce on the cookie. Add a ball of caramel and now add the top cookie and press down slowly so the caramel spreads out inside the cookie to the outer edge. Place back onto the cookie tray with the parchment paper to drizzle more chocolate sauce on top. Do this with all the cookies and then refrigerate, or just eat them all right away! 

 These cookies will blow your mind! I hope everyone had a great long weekend!