Perfect Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Raise your hand if you're in favor of chewy cookies vs. crunchy cookies! Good. Because I found the recipe for the PERFECTLY chewy, delicious, sweet yet salty, paleo chocolate chip cookie. And I'm even going to claim that these are better than the original flour, butter, crisco, filled chocolate chip cookies that your grandma made. Yea, they're THAT good.

My pictures aren't all that great because I made these at night and took the photos immediately since I was so excited, but trust me, they taste 100 times better than they look. Plus, I have to add of course, that they're grain free, refined sugar free, gluten free, paleo, and all that jazz. I just cannot get over how good they tasted either - blew me away!

As you can see, it's been a while since I've baked cookies, and I forgot the whole "make sure you leave space between each blob you place on the tray", but even though I pretty much baked one large cookie, they still tasted just as delicious.

And guys, these are simple to make. I promise. You will need to have a good amount of almond butter, paleo flours (I ALWAYS have coconut and almond flours in my pantry) and of course chocolate chips on hand, but those are things you should be keeping in your pantry anyway! I mean, who can live without almond butter and chocolate chips!? I chose this dark chocolate option from my favorite Thrive Market, but you can grab any brand you'd like. I actually get ALL my baking ingredients from Thrive, but I provided some other great alternatives from Amazon below too, especially if you've got that Amazon prime membership like I do.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp Himalayan pink salt
• 6 tbsp coconut oil or unsalted butter (room temperature). Coconut oil should be a softened butter consistency - not liquid. Throw it in the fridge for a bit if it is. 
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 6 tbsp almond butter (room temperature) 
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg (room temperature) 
• 1 cup (or more) chocolate chips (I use the Thrive Market brand)

Directions:

1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Stir all the dry ingredients (almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda & salt) together in a medium bowl.
3. Using an electric hand mixer in a larger bowl, beat together the coconut oil and coconut sugar for about 1 minute. If you don't have an electric mixer, you could use your hands, but it needs to be mixed very well.
4. Add the almond butter and vanilla extract to the wet ingredients, and mix until well combined. Add the egg and beat for about 1 minute.
5. Stir in the flour mixture until everything is mixed well and forms a dough like texture. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Roll the dough into small balls and place on the baking sheet. Press down slightly with your hand. You can also add more chocolate chips to the tops of the balls.
7. Bake for about 12-14 minutes or until the cookies are nicely browned and the surface no longer appears wet.
8. Let cool completely before storing!

Paleo Almond Crusted Chicken Tenders

This is a quickie, because you need only 4 things: chicken tenders, eggs, crushed almonds, and almond meal/flour. Nick originally made these, and they were just delicious. We've made them many times since then, and they're just perfect every time. I love them on top of salads too - they're great for leftover lunches!

One note about this recipe: it doesn't matter whether you use almond meal or almond flour. As for the crushed almonds, I threw whole raw almonds in a food processor and ran it until they we're ground up. You may possibly be able to make these with JUST almond meal, but I like the extra crispiness on the outside of the tenders. Also, the ingredient measurements below are just estimates - I usually set up 3 bowls with the eggs in one, almond flour in another, and ground almonds in the third. Then you have a little assembly line to make your tenders!

Ingredients:

• 1 package of chicken tenders (or chicken breasts cut into thin strips)
• 2-3 eggs
• 1 cup (+ or -) almond meal
• 1 cup (+ or -) finely ground/crushed almonds
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Directions:

1. Get out 3 medium sized bowls and preheat the over to 450 degrees F.
2. Put the almonds in a food processor and process until they are finely ground. Pour them into 1 of the 3 bowls.
3. Crack the eggs into one of the empty bowls and whisk until they are well blended.
4. Pour the almond flour into the last of the 3 bowls and mix all the spices in with the flour. Now you have a little assembly station to dip the tenders!
5. Rinse the chicken tenders in cold water and pat dry.
6. First, dip them in the almond flour - make sure you cover both sides with a thin layer of flour. Next, submerge the flour covered tender in the egg mixture. Finally, dip into the bowl of crushed almonds. Make sure the tender is coated evenly with the almonds.
7. Do this with all the tenders. If you need to add more eggs or flour to the bowls, do so!
8. Throw the tenders on a greased baking pan, sprinkle a tiny bit more salt and pepper over top of them, and put in the over for about 20 minutes or until golden brown on the outsides and cooked through in the middle.

The BEST Paleo Pancakes Yet

Happy Memorial Day!! I hope you all are having a wonderful long weekend filled with friends, family, and good food. Speaking of good food... here's another yummy one for breakfast (or lunch/dinner, since I tend to eat pancakes at all times of the day!).

If you can't tell already, this is like my 3rd pancake post. I have a small obsession with pancakes, and I'm always trying to make them better, healthier, yummier, etc. Although this recipe isn't necessarily healthier than previous ones I've posted, it's for sure yummier. These pancakes have a bit of crispiness to them around the edges that I LOVE - maybe because I cooked them in a hotter pan, or maybe because of the ingredients - I don't know! But these were so DARN yummy, I cannot wait to make them again. 

I didn't experiment much with this recipe, but I'm sure you could throw flax seeds, blueberries, bananas - whatever you want in them for additions really. I almost always add some ground flax seed and berries, but I didn't have it on hand this time around. I always recommend having coconut flour and almond flour on hand, since those are the two I usually use to bake with, but this recipe calls for a new one: arrowroot flour. Actually, it's more of a starch, and doesn't have much nutritional value (although it does contain some protein!) but it sure makes these pancakes delish!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (optional, but helps for rising)
• 5 large eggs
• 1/4 cup packed almond flour (make sure you pack it into the cup)
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup arrowroot flour
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• optional additions: flax seed, blueberries, raspberries

Directions:

1. Heat a pan over low/medium heat, and add coconut oil or butter to grease the pan.
2. Pour batter in pan to create medium sized pancakes (I fit about 4 pancakes on the pan each time).
3. Cook each side of the pancake until it is lightly brown/crispy on each side. 
4. Serve with pure maple syrup or a berry topping for a lower sugar option!