About the Katniss Cowls…

If you don’t crochet and you want to BUY a Katniss cowl, I have some in my Etsy shop

https://www.etsy.com/listing/171516731/ready-now-hand-crocheted-cowl-inspired

 

Half-cup experimental cookies!

Have I mentioned that I am an obsessive person?  And that I really like desserts?  Especially chocolate?  Well, I am.

 

A couple of months ago I first had a Larabar (chocolate brownie), and it was really good.  And I read the ingredients and was SHOCKED.  And I went online to figure out how to make them myself, since they are sort of expensive.  The problem, in my mind, is that when I open the little packaged one that is in my car or my gym bag or whatever, I eat that one and think, “Yum!  And aren’t I virtuous for choosing this as a snack!?”  But if I make a big batch of them at home, I want to eat several of them.  And might have done that.  And then, even though they cost less to make, I feel like it was still pretty foolish and not all that inexpensive.  And, plus, sometimes I really just want a cookie.

 

I have been making all these “experimental” cookies recently, to try to use less processed sugar and possibly less wheat (I don’t think I have a problem with wheat, although I do have friends who have celiac disease, but there’s a lot out there about wheat being not so good for you–especially modern wheat, with no genetic variation anymore, possibly gmo, probably sprayed with pesticides).  See also https://goodnessgraciouswv.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/banana-sweetened-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies-recipe/

Anyhow, today’s cookies were going to be faux larabars, but I decided to bake them into cookies instead.  They were quite tasty, but very tender/fragile.  I’m not sure if I’m using the right word, but they were not the sort of cookies that would hold up well in your pocket.  Sort of airy and soft.

Half-Cup Experimental Cookies (Recipe)

Put in food processor (I have a mini Cuisinart):

1/2 cup almonds (grind/chop them up a bit)

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped dates (grind/chop the three of these up together)

Add a little vanilla and 1/2 t salt and grind/chop some more.  Dump that all out into a bowl.

Into the food processor  (now empty!), put

heaping 1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut (I have been meaning to try coconut flour, but haven’t found it)

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour  (I’m sure you could use regular flour or gluten-free flour)

3 T cocoa powder (or more)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

3 T melted coconut oil (or butter)

1 smashed ripe banana (I was going to leave the banana out, but it all seemed too dry and I didn’t want to add water! and I figured the banana would probably be good)

Mix all of that, add back the chocolate/date/almond stuff, scoop out by small spoonfuls (heaping teaspoonfuls) and flatten slightly, bake 350 for 8-10 minutes.  Let cool on wire rack.