I have been cleaning out all of the “junk” I ate over the holidays, what with Anton baking white wheat flour bread every 5 minutes and baking Napoleons, cakes, waffles, etc. I was feeling decidedly “puffy” and the scale was screaming like I was Garfield the cat. It was a relief to get back to my morning green smoothies and lots of raw veg, but in the middle of getting all the sugar out of my system, I started craving cookies.
Oatmeal cookies. Coconut cookies. Just gimmie some cookies, already!
I know, it was the sugar talking but I had to do something. So I made these.
Yes, coconut oil is high in calories, but also full of medium chain triglycerides that will only stay in your body an hour or two before being digested and do good things for your body. I did not use almond flour since I am keeping my nut consumption down to a handful or less a day right now. I used banana as a sweetener, full of potassium.
Sage came up with the awesome idea of using an ice cream scoop to place cookie dough. It works great and keeps the mess to a minimum. You can always use a glass to flatten the top of the cookies if you prefer.
I waited to see how they turned out… the dough was awesome, and no eggs to worry about!
They turned out incredibly light and fluffy, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and a couple of them made me happy and my craving was gone. With no sugar but what comes in the banana.
If you use a food dehydrator, these cookies would be wonderful raw/dehydrated, as well.
If you leave them out for a day or so, they will get crunchier on the outside and still stay soft on the inside.
Let me know what you think!
Leslie
Lemon-Coconut “Macaroons”
Preheat oven to 350F.
Line 2-3 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 ripe bananas
1 cup coconut oil, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ½ cups organic unsweetened shredded coconut
2 tablespoons flax meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
In a large bowl, beat together bananas and melted coconut oil on medium speed for about 1 minute.
Add lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla and beat for another minute on high speed.
Add baking powder, salt, flax meal, and shredded coconut, and beat until “dough” is well combined.
Using an ice cream scooper, place rounded scoops of “dough” about 1 inch apart on parchment. I can get about 16 cookies on each cookie sheet as they don’t spread or melt while baking.
Bake for 20-30 minutes until the edges are golden and tops have a light golden colour. Cool on cookie sheet for about 10 minutes before removing.
Makes about 40 cookies. Store in airtight container for longer shelf life.
©leslie Hunter Uhl 2013, all rights reserved
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
wow those look awesome-you’re making me hungry for these Leslie
Also the ice cream scoop idea for this is great-tried this too. Great idea-way to go Sage 
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