I discovered this chocolate in Evergreen health food store in Galway while I was doing my usual scan of
the shop (anyone else just love to walk around food shops looking reading the labels??) This is
chocolate at its best…raw. When we hear people talk about chocolate being good for us, this is the
stuff they are talking about. In its raw form chocolate is packed with anti-aging and disease fighting
antioxidants along with mood-boosting and anti-inflammatory compounds. So along with all those
benefits this one actually tastes unreal.
I added milled flaxseed to these cookies too, I used the Linwoods brand with the added goji berries. The main health benefits of flaxseed are that it contains Omega-3 essential fatty acids, “good” fats that have been shown to have heart healthy effects. Each tablespoon of ground flaxseed contains about 1.8 grams of plant omega-3s. And it contains lots of fibre – there are two types of fibre, soluble and insoluble types, our bodies require both and flaxseed happens to contain both 🙂 Your probably thinking these cookies sound way too healthy, they won’t be as nice as your packet of supermarket cookies, guys you will have to try the recipe for yourself but I promise you, they are delish, the only problem is that they won’t last for long, I ate half the batch while taking photos (no regrets!)
I used the Oriental Orange bar for this recipe as I absolutely love orange chocolate anything, and then used the Black Velvet to drizzle over the cookies once they were baked. You can use any flavour, I think the Amazing Almond would work really well and you could add in almond flakes instead of the orange zest 🙂 Another flavour I will definitely try with this recipe is the Atlantic Magic bar – this bar is so tasty, raw chocolate with a hint of sea salt and seaweed, you can actually feel the sea salt texture in your mouth, which I love!!
I think the key to these cookies is not to use chocolate chips that come in a bag, but chopping the chocolate yourself, that way you can add in giant chunks of chocolate and enjoy it in all its melty goodness 😀 I also had the ultimate taste tester on hand when I made these, my little nephew Joe, he knows a good cookie when he sees one and his description was: “Texture is really good, really chewy and loads of chocolate, the more I eat, the more I love it!! I can’t stop eating it, top 5 cookies he has ever had” High praise from a tough critic and he reckons I should start selling them in the Galway Market haha 😀
Here is the recipe, let me know if ye give them a go!
Ingredients:
1⁄2 cup (40 grams) of coconut oil *at room temperature
1 whole egg (sub for a flaxegg if making vegan)
1⁄2 cup (75 grams) of coconut sugar
1⁄4 cup (15 grams) of milled flaxseed
Juice of 1⁄2 a large orange
1⁄2 tsp of baking soda
2 1⁄4 cups (200 grams) of almond flour
Zest of half an Orange
1 whole bar of chopped Magic Mayan chocolate – I used Oriental Orange
1⁄2 bar for melting and drizzling over the cookies – I used the 85% Black Velvet bar
Method:
• In a bowl mix together coconut oil and coconut sugar
• Add the egg and the juice of the orange
• Mix almond flour and baking soda together and then add this to the wet ingredients
• Mix until well combined and smooth
• Fold in the chunks of chocolate and orange zest
• Cover and leave in the fridge for at least 1 hours
• Heat oven to 180 degrees or Gas mark 4
• Line some parchment paper, and scoop the cookie dough into cookie shapes and arrange on paper, sprinkle with left of orange zest – should make about 8 – 10 medium sized cookies
• Bake for 10 minutes or until they turn golden brown on the edges
• While cookies are cooling on a wire rack, melt the other bar of chocolate in a bowl
• Once cookies are cooled, drizzle the melted chocolate over the cooled cookies and leave for the chocolate to set
This is a Guest Blog Post from Pia McCarthy Fitness based in Galway