Just Another Blog and Sam's Spelt Cookies

Welcome to another recipe, (semi)healthy, maybe parenting (although really, what do I know), maybe some design, lifestyle blog. I know...the internet is teeming with these things...which is why I spend too much time, procrastinating on housework, reading them. So for a while I've been thinking "Hey! Wouldn't it be more constructive to spend my day,procrastinating on housework, writing  a blog instead." I know it's a cliche, but I've been okay with being a walking cliche for years now--ever since I started making jewellery and those folks at Portlandia wrote a song about it.  But cliche or not, I love cooking and baking and I miss writing since I've been away from teaching and at home with the kidlets. I thought this blog would give me a good excuse to do both. And since our household has been on a bit of a health kick over the years, probably most recipes I post will have a bit of a healthier spin on them, especially in the trying not to use refined flour and sugar department.

So here's a recipe....
My handsome little partner in crime, Sam, loves to bake or "make" as he calls it (and yes, a bakery is a "makery"). And although it takes about triple the time, and quadruple the mess, I love to "make" with him too.  This recipe is quick and easy and a great one to pack for school lunches, if they can last that long without getting eaten. For some reason the nuttiness of the spelt and caramel of the coconut sugar remind me of a graham wafer, and there's something about this cookie that's a little bit s'more-ish.  They won't win any awards for nutrition, but they are at least a bit healthier than your average chocolate chip cookie. Plus, I have to post a spelt recipe for the first post of the blog, don't I?

Sam's Spelt Cookies

makes 2 dozen

4 TBSP coconut oil*
2/3 cup coconut palm sugar*
1 free range egg
1 1/4 cup spelt flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 TBSP milk (or almond milk, or coconut milk...something milky)
1tsp vanilla
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2/3 cup chocolate chips (add more if you like--the darker the chocolate the better)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cream together coconut oil and sugar and add eggs, milk and vanilla.  Beat a bit longer until well mixed.
Add dry ingredients and mix until a dough is formed.
Add chocolate chips and coconut and mix until evenly distributed throughout batter.
Spoon batter onto parchment lined cookie sheets and bake for aprx 8 mins.  The key to these suckers is to slightly under bake them so they remain slightly chewy and soft in the centre.  If you over bake them, they will still be yummy, but more on the cakey side.

*Fellow Edmontonians, if you don't want to break the bank getting some of these ingredients at your friendly local health food/organics store (which we support too, by the way), I have found both organic coconut sugar and vats of organic virgin coconut oil at Costco for a fraction of the price.  Seriously, you gotta get yourself some coconut oil--you can put that stuff on everything! More on that later.