A Very THM Christmas - Cookie Edition - All S

 

     I would like to start this post out by sharing a few revelations I've had this week with you.


1. There is a God

2. I am not Him

3. I'm not Superwoman, either.


    I have been trying since before Thanksgiving to find good THM approved Christmas cookies recipes, or recipes I could convert. This task was a little harder that I had originally thought.

    "Just dig up a few recipes", she says. 

"It'll be easy" she says.

 (The best laid plans of mice and men)

    So... this post isn't quite what I had planned (but we are just going to say that I wanted to make sure I had some cookie recipes I could experiment with next year. Yeah, that should work. They'll totally believe that was the plan all along! very clever!)

Ahem... where was I? Oh, Yes! Christmas Cookies! Despite my above complaining  commentary, all is not lost, I do actually have a few really good recipes! Check them out and leave me a comment letting me know what you think!

No Bake Chocolate Coconut Cookies

1 cup of  Unsweetened Coconut, blended to finer consistency

2 Tbsp of Cocoa Powder

1 Tbsp of Coconut Oil

2 Tbsp Butter

2 Tbsp of Powdered Xylitol

(you could probably substitute stevia extract, I haven't tried)

1/2 tsp of Almond Extract

Mix all ingredients together. Form into balls of desired size. 

(for this picture I used a 1 Tbsp cookie scoop, for Christmas feast purposes, I recommend 

making them about 1/2 Tbsp in size)

Store in the freezer. 

YIELD: 18 (1/2 Tbsp size)

No Bake Coconut Lemon Butter Cookies

1 cup Unsweetened Coconut, blended to a finer consistency

3 Tbsp of Butter, slightly softened

2 Tbsp Powdered Xylitol

(stevia extract might work, I haven't tried it)

1 tsp of Vanilla Extract

4 drops Lemon Essential Oil

 Mix all ingredients together. Form into balls of desired size. 

(for this picture I used a 1 Tbsp cookie scoop, for Christmas feast purposes, I recommend 

making them about 1/2 Tbsp in size)

Store in the freezer. 

YIELD: 14 (1/2 Tbsp size)

Black Bean Chocolate Chip Cookies

We loved these hot out of the oven. I did think however, as they cooled, you noticed the bean flavor a little more. They were still very good. The consistency also got a little softer as time went on. I think these would be great if you're going to bake them and serve them within a few hours. These aren't really a cookie that you want to make ahead and freeze.

I used this recipe for the chocolate chips:

THM Chocolate Chunks

Pecan Balls

My family thought this recipe was perfect the first batch I made! I love it when a recipe works!

We did decide we're going to make the balls much smaller next time. 

I didn't count how many cookies one recipe made, but the picture above is basically one batch.

I used about 1/2 Tbsp of dough per cookie.

The next couple recipes I don't have pictures for, because in the rush, I forgot to take pictures and I didn't have time to make another batch to photograph. Sorry!

Coconut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies did, in fact, taste GREAT! BUT... I couldn't get them to bake right. The first pan I baked did okay. The second pan (same batch of batter) total flop. (I'm not sure what I did, but I'm pretty sure it was my fault and not the recipes). We didn't want to lose those wonderful cookies though, so we scraped the too soft, too spread out-ish ( I don't quite know how to describe them, obviously) into an 8x8 baking dish and pressed the partially cooked dough down. When we tried baking the third pan, same problem. We continued our pile of half baked cookies in the 8x8 pan. When we were done trying to figure out how to make the batter into 'cookies' and had put it all into the baking pan, we just slid that pan into the oven and baked for a few minutes. We called them Cookie Bars. One family member thought they were so good, she wanted them as her gift for Christmas! 

Snickerdoodles

This recipe went just as planned. I simply substituted the 4 Tbsp of coconut oil for 6 Tbsp of Butter, and instead of the honey, I used 1/2 tsp of Stevia Extract.  I rolled the cookie balls in xylitol/cinnamon mixture.

They were VERY good. 

Lemon Shortbread Cookies

I tried two different recipes for this one. I thought this recipe was the clear winner. 

Note: All the measurements for this recipe are in ounces... not cups, Tbsp, etc. 

I understand why she did this but I also realize that can be frustrating for some bakers, so I'm going to rewrite the ingredients here for you with the different measurements. Also I tweaked this, the original recipe doesn't call for Lemon Essential Oil, but I thought it rounded out the lemon flavor nicely. You decide if you want to add it or not.

1 3/4 cup of Almond Flour

3 Tbsp of Chia Seeds

2/3 cup of Xylitol

1 tsp of glucomannan (she used xanthan gum)

6 Tbsp of Cold Butter

4 drops of Lemon Essential Oil, optional.

Make sure you click on the link to read the directions. These are not drop cookies and she gives very good 

instructions to help your cookies turn out right.

And now... I saved my favorite recipe for last! I am VERY sorry I don't have a picture of this one.

 It is so pretty and festive! These cookies taste GOOD! We love them. I expect them to get eaten the quickest. So Good! 

I was concerned this recipe would get soft or soggy after they sat around a little bit, but they DIDN'T!!

When they had cooled, I immediately put them in the freezer and just stored them there until I was ready to serve. They held up way better that I expected.

Thumbprint Butter Fluff Cookies

1 cup of Butter, softened (I used unsalted)

8 oz of Cream Cheese (I used 1/3 less fat)

1 cup of Almond Flour

1/2 cup of Coconut Flour, divided

1/2 cup of Xylitol

1 tsp of Baking Powder

1 egg

'Jelly' of Choice

( I used leftover Cranberry Sauce, mine was as thick as jelly anyway

You could also use any Fuel Pull version of Slim Belly Jelly you have on hand

If you have no idea what Slim Belly Jelly is, the recipe is in the Trim Healthy Mama Book)

Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add almond flour and 1/4 cup of the coconut flour.

Mix well and add rest of ingredients, except 'jelly'.

Add the other 1/4 cup of coconut flour, mix well and let sit for about 5 minutes.

Drop spoonfuls onto and ungreased baking sheet. Using either your thumb or the back of a spoon, 

create an imprint into the top of the cookie. Fill with about 1/2 tsp of 'jelly'. 

Bake at 375 degrees until cookie bottoms begin to brown, about 7-10 minutes.

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I don't know if everybody already knows this and I'm just the last one to figure this out, but as I made these different kinds of cookies this year, if there happened to be any leftovers after our initial taste test(s),  I kept a container in the freezer and just added them in. I didn't have to individually quick freeze them and anytime we wanted we could just grab a single cookie straight from the freezer and eat it. Some you might want to let thaw for about 5 minutes or so, but who cares? This is a rather helpful technique for our Christmas celebrations. Just thought I'd share.

After reviewing this post, I realize I have more recipes rounded up than I thought. It's actually a pretty good list. Maybe I am Superwoman?? Hmm... I'll have to think on that.

Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas!