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Tag Archives: dairy-free

Nutrient-Packed Cookie Dough Boys

6 / 27 / 137 / 8 / 13

Nutrient Packed Cookie Dough Boys | Mama Papa BubbaThe other night, I had the absolute pleasure of joining several other Vancouver mom bloggers at Whole Foods for evening with Aspen Clean, a local eco-friendly cleaner and cleaning company.  While there, Whole Foods totally spoiled us with delicious green smoothies, all kinds of yummy nutrient-packed salads, and the yummiest ever {vegan, gluten-free} cookie dough balls.  Our healthy eating specialist, Sarah, made them while we watched, and not only were they quick and easy to whip up, but the giant bowl full disappeared in a matter of minutes – a sure sign of their deliciousness. As soon as I tasted {my first} one, I knew that Grae would just love them.  So today, we got our ingredients and whipped up a batch.  My suspicions were right – Grae did  love them.

IMG 9442Here’s our lineup of ingredients….  Pecans, dates {soaked in water}, coconut, raisins, sea salt, cinnamon, coconut oil, and vanilla.  Now, I have to say that the original recipe includes coconut manna (also known as coconut butter) and not coconut oil…  In fact, our healthy eating specialist explained that coconut oil is just the fat squeezed out of the coconut meat, while coconut manna is the coconut meat and fat combined, making it much more nutrient-rich.  The trouble is, our local grocery store doesn’t carry coconut manna, so we had to improvise.  While maybe not as healthy, the recipe still turned out great!

IMG 9445Anyways, onto actually making the cookie dough boys!  First up, we drained {almost all of} the water our dates had been soaking in and blended them in our food processor.  (Word to the wise, be sure your dates don’t still have the pits in them before blending. Oy.)

IMG 9447We processed them until nearly smooth, but not perfectly pureed.  Because it was such a small batch, it did take several rounds of stopping the machine, scraping down the sides, and then doing it again, but that just meant more jobs for my little helper, which she of course loved.

IMG 9449With the date paste saved in a separate bowl for later, Miss G added our coconut and pecans to the food processor.  Call us lazy, but we didn’t even wash out the processor bowl in between as it seemed like sort of an unnecessary step.

IMG 9453Then we pureed the coconut and pecans until they were meal-like.

IMG 9454Next up, Grae dumped all of the other ingredients (save the raisins) into the food processor with the coconut/pecan mixture.

IMG 9455Then we processed it all until it started to come together in a mass.

IMG 9459Here’s what it looked like when done.

IMG 9469The last step was to mix the raisins in by hand.

IMG 9476With our dough complete, we rolled it into balls using about a tablespoon of the mixture at a time.

IMG 9460And because Miss G is no longer a huge fan of raisins, before mixing them in, we set aside a part of the mixture.  To set Grae’s balls apart from the other, she rolled them in coconut, which was a lovely addition.

IMG 9466The verdict?  Delicious!  They’re sweet and satisfying just like a good dessert, but come sans all of the sugar and fat regular desserts have.  A definite success!

{Nutrient-packed} Cookie Dough Boys

(*this is a Health Starts Here recipe from Whole Foods)

  • 1/4 cup of date paste (we used 5 large majool dates)
  • 2 cups of pecans
  • 1 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 1 tablespoon of coconut manna (or as we used, 1/2 tablespoon of coconut oil)
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • dash of sea salt
  • 1/2 cup of raisins

Soak the dates in room temperature water for an hour (you can cut down soaking time by using hot water), drain off almost all of the water, and purée the fruit until fairly smooth.  Set aside.

Blend pecans and coconut flakes in a food processor until meal-like.  Add all other ingredients, save the raisins.  Process until the mixture starts coming together in a large mass.

Dump dough into a large bowl and incorporate raisins by hand.  Taking 1 tablespoon scoops, roll the dough to create balls.  Roll in coconut or crushed nuts if desired.

Eat, refrigerate, or freeze.

Enjoy!

♥ 

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4 Comments

Healthy Trail Mix Cookies

11 / 6 / 1211 / 6 / 12

This weekend, Gracen and I tried a new healthy cookie recipe.  Knowing how most healthy cookies turn out (good, but very healthy tasting), I didn’t have my hopes set too high.  Much to my surprise, however, these cookies turned out to be delicious.  Slightly crunchy on the outside while still soft on the inside, super sweet, and chocked full of yummy seeds and nuts.  Even Brad commented on how good they were.  So today, only a few days after making the first batch, we made another.  

Healthy Trail Mix Cookies

Here’s a quick rundown on how we like to make our new favourite cookies…

IngredientsGather the ingredients.  

IMG 1796Place the pecans on a baking sheet and pop them into the oven to toast for about 10 minutes.

IMG 1802In the meantime, put some of the oats into a blender or food processor and turn them into oat flour.

IMG 1803Pour the oat flour into a large mixing bowl.

IMG 1804Add your regular old-fashioned oats.

IMG 1806Then the ground flax and hemp hearts…

IMG 1809Plus the salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.

IMG 1812Give all of the dry ingredients a good stir.

IMG 1814Next, pour in the pure maple syrup.

IMG 1817Coax the coconut oil into coming out of its bowl…

IMG 1820Add the honey…

IMG 1821And vanilla.

IMG 1824Stir the sticky mixture well.

IMG 1825At this point, it’ll be crumbly and sticky all at once and you’ll wonder how on earth it’ll ever become cookies.  Don’t fret.

IMG 1826By now, your roasting pecans will smell lovely and will be ready to come out of the oven.

IMG 1829Allow them to cool a moment and pop them into a blender or food processor, pulsing them just a handful of times to create small bits.

IMG 1831Then add them to your cookie mixture.

IMG 1832Next up, the add-ins.  Dump in your raisins…

IMG 1835Plus the sunflower seeds and almond slices…

IMG 1838And stir everything up really well.

IMG 1841Now for the tricky part…  With a bowl of warm water nearby, wet you hands, scoop out a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough, and shape into a ball, pressing firmly.  Repeat for the remainder of the dough, rewetting your hands every couple of cookies.  

Now pop them in the oven…

IMG 1844And take them out approximately 10 – 13 minutes later, when the outsides are golden and crispy, but the centre is still very soft to the touch. Let the cookies cool completely before removing from the pan.

IMG 1846Serve with a glass of cold milk, or if you prefer ‘the Gracen special’, with a small bowl of plain yogurt (she plops the cookie in, then smashes it into the yogurt with her spoon – I think they remind her of granola ☺).

 

Healthy Trail Mix Cookies

Adapted from this recipe from Oh She Glows

  • 1 cup of pecans, toasted
  • 1 cup of old-fashioned oats, blended into oat flour
  • 1/4 cup of rolled oats
  • 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed
  • 1 tablespoon of hemp hearts
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup of pure maple syrup
  • 2 heaping tablespoons of honey
  • 1tablespoon of coconut oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla
  • 1/3 cup of raisins
  • 3 tablespoons of sunflower seeds
  • 3 tablespoons of sliced almonds

 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Spread pecans onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, use a blender or food processor to grind your oats into oat flour.  Put the flour, along with the other dry ingredients, into a large mixing bowl and stir.  Add in the wet ingredients and mix really well.  

By now, your pecans should be ready.  Remove them from the oven and crank up your oven’s temperature to 350 degrees. Pop the pecans into your blender or food processor, and give them just a few pulses to break them up into small bits.  Add the pecans, as well as the raisins, sunflower seeds, and sliced almonds to the cookie mixture and stir well.  

With a bowl of warm water nearby, wet your hands and press firmly to shape approximately 1 heaping tablespoon portions of cookie mixture into a balls.

Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 10 – 13 minutes.  When you remove them from the oven, the cookies should be golden, crispy on the very top, but very soft to the touch still.  Allow them to cool completely before removing from the cookie sheet.

Enjoy!

1 Comment

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