Lately I have been enjoying making guilt free sweet treats and there is many more to come, but these are buy far the most indulgent, delicious, with a rich chocolate and almond flavor. They remind me of a Afghan Cookie. They are wheat free, dairy free, processed free and paleo friendly.

One of my favourite bloggers Ariana from AriEats created this divine and guilt free Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. As soon as It came up on her blog I instantly went out and bought the ingredients and went home to make them. She makes the most delicious guilt free paleo friendly meals, treats and alternatives to what you would find when buying from the bakery or takeaway shops. Her recipes are full of flavor without the guilty and bloated feeling after eating them. They are also filled with goodness, vitamins, minerals and super foods that your body will thank you for in time. Check out her blog here for all of her meals and recipes.



 WARNING: This recipe contains a lot of flavor that you will keep coming back for more. Store these in a container at the back of the cupboard, so you don't eat the whole batch after making them.



 INGREDIENTS
1 jar (300g) Organic Almond and peanut Butter or 1 C home-made almond butter and 0.25 C of crunch organic peanut butter 
( I slightly altered from Ariana's recipe I didn't have enough almond butter so I substituted crunchy peanut butter, I liked the taste of the Peanut chunks in it.)
1 C Coconut Sugar
1/2 C Cacao Powder - you can substitute 1/4 C with Fair-trade Organic Cocoa Powder
1 free-range egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 C / 45g dark chocolate - Lindt 90% Dark Ghana or Pana Chocolate - roughly chopped (optional)


STEP ONE:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (356F or Gas Mark 4) on bake. 

STEP TWO:
Combine almond butter, peanut butter and coconut sugar into a bowl. Mix in egg and vanilla essence. 



STEP THREE:
In a separate bowl, sift in cacao powder, cocoa and baking soda in a separate bowl.   

STEP FOUR:
Combine all the ingredients together to form a dough mixture. If need be, take the mixture from the bowl and need on the bench. (don't be afraid to get messy)


STEP FIVE:On a baking tray lined with parchment/baking paper measure out a heaped tablespoon of mixture and roll into a ball. You may have to moisten your fingers to assist. Flatten the ball with a fork or palm. Do this with the remainder of the mixture until there is no more left.  



 STEP SIX:
Place in the oven and allow to cook for 12-15 minutes checking regularly till they bounce back to the touch. Remove from the oven and let rest for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. The cookies will be very soft upon removal from the oven and you must ensure they are allowed time to set before transferring to avoid them breaking. 

 STEP SEVEN:
Once cookies are mostly cooled, eat as you wish. Serve with a cold glass of almond milk , Or melt some 90% chocolate and dip half of the cookie in the chocolate let them cool for a resemblance of an Afghan cookie.

Store in an air tight container in the fridge they should last up to a week that's if you don't eat them all in one go.


I hope you enjoy this recipe because I sure did and don't forget to check out arieats.com for more delicious recipes.