Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts

Being the mother of boys is a wonderful thing. I have never been a “girly girl” so perhaps God, in His infinite wisdom, knew I would be a better mother of boys than girls. Of course I might be saying the exact opposite if I had been blessed with girls. But there’s just something special about the relationship between mothers and sons and I am so grateful I have the opportunity to raise these two precious souls.

“…and she loved a little boy very, very much – even more than she loved herself.” – From ‘The Giving Tree’ by Shel Silverstein

Our boys like to get dirty. My husband and I have an ongoing joke about our differing views on the acceptability of how dirty they get when playing outside. G is a stickler for cleanliness and even though he knows it’s not a big deal, he cannot help but cringe when he sees the boys in the dirt or mud. Meanwhile I have always maintained – at least when being contrary with G – that “a dirty boy is a happy boy”. My point is when they are outside getting dirty it means they are using their imaginations and bodies. They are not just vegetating inside playing computer games (hey, computer games have their place). But even I was a bit mortified when I spied Nathaniel in the back yard recently.

He started out looking innocent enough. I thought perhaps he was planning on helping me garden. He likes to garden. So I figured he was gearing up to assist with planting or weeding or something productive like that. But no, evidently not. He had something much more important to attend to. 

He was making mud pies, people!

“Whoa, I really am kinda dirty now. Maybe I shouldn’t have done this” I imagine him thinking. But no, he doesn’t care. I assure you he does.not.care.

And how can I resist this face? The only thing to do with a sweet boy covered in mud from head to toe is to kiss him on the cheek, while keeping a safe distance from his mud-covered parts, and hose him down.

And maybe, after he’s cleaned up a bit, you can feed him chocolate chip cookies. Well, make that paleo chocolate chip cookies.

This recipe for grain-free chocolate chip cookies contains walnuts. But the walnuts are an optional ingredient. And, in fact, my Nathaniel can eat most nuts except for walnuts and pecans. So for him I leave them out. But the day I was testing this recipe, the boys had a good friend over who is not allergic to nuts. I asked their buddy Jonah to help in a couple of ways. First, he agreed to help with photos (that’s him holding the plate) with the promise of a couple of cookies. And he was also asked to offer his opinion on those cookies. It was my version of market research. And according to Jonah, who is one of my most favorite people in the world, by the way, these paleo chocolate chip cookies are awesome!

You will not miss “regular” chocolate chip cookies one bit.

So make these cookies soon and share them with someone you love – boys OR girls. Who knows, you might get a mud pie in return.

Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts

Ingredients

• 2 cups blanched almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt
• 1/4 cup palm shortening (or butter)
• 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (gluten, dairy, soy free)
  
• 1/2 cup walnut halves (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Sift almond flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer cream shortening and palm sugar together. Add the egg and vanilla extract and continue mixing.
4. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in the stand mixer, continue mixing, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts (if using).
6. Use a small cookie scoop or large spoon to scoop out balls of cookie dough – each cookie approximately 2 tablespoons. Roll into balls.
7. Place on a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet and flatten out the dough into the thickness you like – the dough does not spread when cooking.
8. Cook for 10-12 minutes.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

For a Paleo and Vegan version of paleo chocolate chip cookies check out this recipe. This particular version of chocolate chip cookies are even more like standard chocolate chip cookies in my opinion. The dough is drier and I didn’t need to use the cookie scoop to keep things from sticking together. I could literally roll the cookie dough into balls in my hands. The recipe also calls for somewhat different ingredients from my other version. So the one you choose to make my depend upon the ingredients you have on hand.

I hope you like them!

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