Choc Hazelnut Cookies – healthy & yummy!

I didn’t want to call these Nutella cookies because I really don’t like Nutella and the word Nutella implies a lot of sugar; which these simply do not have. I remember as a kid begging mum to buy me Nutella because all the kids at school had it and therefore I wanted it too. She finally caved and bought me a jar of Nutella, I had 1 teaspoon and was completely grossed out, ‘how do the kids at school like this stuff’ I thought. I tried a few more times, spreading it onto bread, having it with carrot and celery sticks, nothing worked, I gave up and decided all the kids at school were mad for liking the stuff. Many years later when I was old enough to clean out the pantry for mum, I found a severly dehydrated jar of Nutella! The poor unloved Nutella! Well I still feel that way… Perhaps I should have called them Notella cookies! This recipe makes 15 cookies and only has a small amount of honey or coconut nectar as the sweetner. They are quick to make and would go great for a picnic or for school lunch boxes! I adapted the recipe from the app Paleo Plate where they do call them “Nutella” cookies, inverted commas and all!

Recipe: Choc hazelnut cookies

Ingredients

3 tablespoons honey or coconut nectar

1/4 cup butter or alternative

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup activated hazelnuts (can remove papery skins if this bothers you)

1/2 cup almond flour

1/3 cup coconut flour (more if mixture to moist)

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup dark choc chips (I used some squares from my 90% lindt chocolate, this is optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and line a cookie tray with baking paper or grease tray which ever is preferred.
2. In thermomix or other food processor combine butter, oil and honey (or coconut nectar) until you have a smooth and creamy texture.
3. Add the hazelnuts, chocolate (if you are using squares as appose to choc chips) flours, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder then blend until well combined but without pureeing the hazelnuts or chocolate (try pulsing a couple of times and then switch to a slow blend and build up speed, you may need to scrape the sides once or twice).
4. If you are adding choc chips now is the time. Pulse once to distribute them evenly. You should have a typical looking stiff cookie dough with small chunks of hazelnuts and chocolate. If the mixture is to wet add another tablespoon of coconut flour.
5. Spoon the mixture onto prepared cookie tray, you should end up with 15 so space them well.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes until just golden around the edges, they go from golden to burnt pretty quick so keep an eye on them!
7. Let them cool to stiffen up before eating or storing. Store in a airtight container.

These are delicious, try your hardest not to eat them all in one day! Great recipe if you are trying to cut back on sugar and grains but still wanting something a little bit sweet. Enjoy!