Dipping My Toes into the Clean Eating Pool

My youngest son has been home for a few months.  He has been railing on our "crappy" eating habits.  I have been researching and reading about clean eating.  It all sounds so wonderfully healthy and empowering, but I am the biggest carbohydrate addict with one huge sweet tooth.  I bought some coconut oil and a small package of almond flour at a Big Lots about a month ago.  They have sat in my cupboard.  I added some powdered peanut butter to them a couple of weeks ago.

Today I decided it was time to dive in.  I searched for recipes.  It was really difficult because if you search for almond flour recipes, you get a lot of gluten free recipes most of which call for xanthan gum (which gives the texture four gives and is really pricey.)  I finally decided to try some with just a 1:1 substitution of things unhealthy for things healthy.  I ended up with these.

 They are oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  I substituted almond flour for regular flour and coconut oil for butter.  I did not substitute agave or honey for the brown sugar.  I know, I know....but I have to take baby steps!

 My family loved them and so did I.  They are slightly drier than a regular cookie, but that is okay with me.  My favorite cookie is shortbread so these were great.  I had added PB powder for a peanutty taste, but I do not think I added enough as the taste is really not there.  My son said the chocolate chips added a lot, but they certainly were not healthy.  I just told him that they were dark chocolate and that is very good for you.

Fairly Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/4 Cup Coconut Oil (melted)
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 t. Vanilla Extract
1/4 t. Baking Soda
1 T. PB2 Powder (peanut butter powder)
1/4 t. salt
1 Cup Almond Flour
1 Cup Rolled Oats
4 T. Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Combine the oil and sugar and beat well.  Add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat.  Add all the dry ingredients and beat until well combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.   Drop by spoonful on a baking sheet.  They do not flatten much so you may want to flatten before baking.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Makes 18 cookies.

Patty