Lísa's Chocolate Chip Cookies

27. November, 2009

If you have been using my site you should be familiar with my friend Lísa by now. We are foodie friends and know each other through my website. We share recipes, thoughts on food and much more. She is like my foodie-soul mate and a fun person as well. She is the creator of Lisa's French Chocolate Cake which is absolutely delicious. The way it works is that we sometimes post a particular recipe between us, back and forth and make suggestions on how to improve it. Usually it is hard to improve her recipes but it is always good to get feedback and ideas on the stuff you are making. She also has three young children which is fantastic because they are often the toughest crowd to please! When they give their thumbs up, we know we have a winner. These chocolate chip cookies are from Lísa with some minor adjustments made by me (which are not even important)...we often base our recipes on the same principles like using agave nectar and dates instead of white sugar, nuts and coconut oil instead of butter and of course spelt instead of white flour. This has produced some fantastic results and this recipe is one of them. I absolutely love these cookies because they are fairly healthy considering what most chocolate chip cookies are made of, packed with fibre, healthy fats, protein and antioxidants. Just make sure you buy organic peanut butter with no added sugar. You wouldn't believe how unhealthy some of the commercial peanut butters are!!! I usually make my own but organic is fine as well.

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So, so delicious

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This recipe is:

Lactose (dairy) free

Lísa's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 35-40 Cookies

Ingredients

80 grams (3 oz) pitted dates, chopped finely and soaked for 20 minutes
75 grams(2¾ oz) Rapadura (or other raw cane sugar)
50 grams (1¾ oz) hazelnuts, toasted and ground in a food processor
50 grams (1¾ oz) dark, organic chocolate (with raw cane sugar), chopped finely
40 grams (1½ oz) pecan nuts, chopped finely
50 grams (1¾ oz) spelt flour
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt (Himalaya or sea salt)
1 egg (please use free range eggs)
2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter (without added sugar)
4 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Chop the 80 grams dates finely. Transfer dates to a small bowl and soak in warm water for 20 minutes.
Toast the 50 grams hazelnuts. To do this, place the nuts on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius/400 degrees Fahrenheit/Gas Mark 6 for 5 minutes; it's important to use a timer since it is extremely easy to forget the nuts in the oven! Allow the nuts to cool and rub the skins off. You can also place them on a frying pan without oil and heat them for 10 minutes. Shift the nuts around in the pan a couple of times. Let cool and rub the skins off.
Place the hazelnuts in a food processor. Blend for 1 minute or until very finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl.
Sift the 50 grams spelt flour, 4 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt into the large bowl.
In a medium bowl, combine the egg, the 75 grams raw cane sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 4 tablespoons coconut oil and 2 tablespoons peanut butter. Mix well.
Chop the 40 grams pecan nuts and 50 grams chocolate finely.
Drain the liquid from the dates and place in the food processor along with the 2 tablespoons agave nectar. Blend for 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl and continue blending for another 30 seconds or until smooth and well combined (with no large bits).
With a large wooden spoon, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Do this swiftly and fold approximately 8-10 times.
Add the chocolate and the pecan nuts and fold 2-3 times. The batter should be fairly moist (sticky) without being runny.
Place baking parchment on a large baking tray.
Drop 1 tablespoon of batter onto the baking parchment, leave a bit of space between each cookie. Press lightly down on the cookies with the back of a spoon (to even out any bumps)
Bake at 170 degrees Celsius/325Fahrenheit/Gas Mark 3, for 7-10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes (if you can wait that long!).
The cookies are best enjoyed on the same day they are made but will keep for a couple of days.

Tips

You can use chopped walnuts instead of the pecan nuts.
If the coconut oil is cold (in which case it becomes solid), place the jar in a bowl filled with hot water for a couple of minutes.
You can use whole wheat flour instead of the spelt flour.
You can use maple syrup instead of the agave nectar.
You can use carob instead of the chocolate.
You can freeze the cookies and re-heat to enjoy later.
For an added health benefit you can add 2 tablespoons sesame seeds to the recipe.
You can also use smooth peanut butter instead of the crunchy type.