You might have noticed that I haven’t been posting as much as usual lately. Summer has gotten busy! We went camping with friends, in the Okanagan-Wenatchee National Forest. Then my husband, and my children, and my grandchildren all descended on my sister’s house. It’s all been wonderful. There’s never enough time to spend with people you love, and so when the opportunity arises, we take it.
And besides the visiting (which has been wonderful!), I’m still having problems with my vision. That makes researching and writing more difficult than I would like. But it will be fixed in early September, and then (with God’s help and your prayers), I’ll be able to pick back up to my usual schedule.
In the mean time, I thought I’d share with you a recipe that I got from my sister. She wanted to make a treat that my child who has celiac could have, and that everyone else would enjoy. Her double chocolate chocolate chip cookies were perfect! I think she made three batches.
Double chocolate chocolate chip cookies
These cookies are gluten-free and dairy-free. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t good!
Ingredients
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
1 ½ cups almond flour
½ cup unsweetened natural cocoa
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
8 Tbsp coconut oil or dairy-free margarine (feel free to use butter if you can have it)
1 cup coconut sugar or dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Line three baking sheets with parchment.
Melt half the chocolate in the microwave. Heat for 30 seconds, stir, heat another 30 seconds and stir again. That should be enough to melt it completely. If there are still unmelted bits after stirring thoroughly the second time, give it another 15 seconds. Just don’t burn the chocolate!
Put the almond flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl, and run the mixer on low just until the ingredients are combined. (You can also use a food processor if you’d prefer.)
Add the coconut oil or margarine a tablespoon at a time and mix until the mixture looks like coarse corn meal.
Add the eggs, vanilla, and melted chocolate, and mix until the dough is smooth. (The dough should be thicker than brownie batter, but thinner than chocolate chip cookie dough.)
Fold in the remaining chocolate chips.
Drop the dough by heaping tablespoons, a few inches apart, onto the parchment-lined baking sheets.
Bake one sheet at a time, just until set, about 8 to 10 minutes. Rotate the sheets halfway through baking. Do not bake the cookies until they are crisp! They need to be soft when they come out of the oven. They’ll firm up as they cool.
When you take the cookies out of the oven, slide the sheet of parchment paper to a rack to let the cookies cool. They’ll be a bit fragile at first. Take them off the parchment when they’re cool enough to hold up to the handling.
Read More
Cookies and desserts for special diets and special occasions: Special days call for special treats. Here are some of my favorites, including a selection that work if you’re on a gluten-free, dairy-free or anti-inflammatory diet.
St. Catherine’s Day Chocolate Cake Recipe: This rich chocolate cake doesn’t use butter or eggs, so it’s perfect to have on St. Catherine’s Day, or any other fast day.
Let ALL the little children come, including the ones who need gluten-free food: Victoria Marckx, church school director at St. Demetrios Orthodox Church, Winnipeg, Manitoba, shares thoughts and practical tips for providing gluten-free food at church events.
Buy the Books!
These delightfully diverse books provide disability representation (Elizabeth, one of the main characters, is an ambulatory wheelchair user). They also give Orthodox Christian children the rare opportunity to see themselves in books, and children who are not Orthodox the chance to see cultural practices they may not be familiar with.
Catherine’s Pascha
FINALIST IN THE 2015 USA BEST BOOK AWARDS
Catherine doesn’t like vegetables. She doesn’t like naps. She doesn’t like it when her mom combs her hair. She loves hot dogs, chocolate cake, and her best friend, Elizabeth. Most of all, she loves Pascha! Pascha, the Orthodox Christian Easter, is celebrated in the middle of the night, with processions and candles and bells and singing. And Catherine insists that she’s not a bit sleepy.
Celebrate the joy of Pascha through the magic of a book: Catherine’s Pascha. Available on Amazon, Bookshop.org, and my webstore.
The Saint Nicholas Day Snow
Shoes or stockings? Horse or sleigh? Does St. Nicholas visit on December 6 or on Christmas Eve? Will a little girl’s prayer be answered? When Elizabeth has to stay at Catherine’s house, she’s worried about her grandmother, and worried that St. Nicholas won’t find her. The grownups, though, are worried about snow.
Celebrate the wonder of St. Nicholas Day through the magic of a book: The Saint Nicholas Day Snow. Available on Amazon, Bookshop.org, or my webstore.
