Chocolate Chip Dipped Crunch Cookies

I am CRAZY excited to share my Paleo C4 Cookies with you. If I know you at all, and…I’m pretty sure I do, you’re probably wondering why these cookies are named C4? Well then, let me explain! The reason they are called C4 cookies is two fold.
1. Their full name is Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies (dipping is optional!) Four C’s = C4.
2. The flavor explodes in your mouth like a C4 explosive. True story. You guys, I have FINALLY created a recipe for crispy crunchy Paleo cookies. Every single Paleo cookie recipe I’ve made so far, be it mine or someone else’s, are the soft batch ewwy gooey kind. And while there is nothing wrong at all with ewwy gooey Paleo cookies (let’s get real, we aren’t cookie prejudice on this blog, we accept all cookies in all their glorious forms) but sometimes you just feel like a crunch. Am I right or am I right? Ta da!

So how did I come up with this recipe you ask? It was actually one of you that gave me the idea! One of my readers asked if I had every tried baking my Paleo Cookie Dough. I scratched my chin, hmmmm’ed, and got to thinking. Was there a way I could bake the dough to make cookies. Into the great unknown we go. After adding a few ingredients and throwing them in the oven, I was greeted with a warm welcome (literally) they were PERFECT! Not only were they crispidy crunchy, but they were incredibly easy. Look at you guys and your ideas. You could practically write the blog yourselves. Gold star on everyone’s Paleo chart this week.

Speaking of gold stars and chocolate, do I have an amazing story of struggle and willpower for you. My friend Stacy LaLa, whom I’ve mentioned on the blog in the past, is on day 106 of following an Autoimmune Protocol Diet, or AIP. I’m no Paleo expert, but from my understanding it’s basically a process to heal the gut by eating a squeaky clean version of the Paleo diet that also eliminates eggs, nightshades, chocolate, and nuts. After 30-90 days you can start to reintroduce foods like eggs, and nightshades. I know what you’re thinking, nightshades, big whoop, so you can’t eat eggplants…but tomatoes are nightshades too people! Gasp I know. That means no tomatoes, tomato based soups, sauces, zero, zip, zilch, nada. Also tons of savory spices are made from nightshades. I myself would die after the first month of no chocolate. People would stand over my grave and pour melted chocolate instead of 40oz’s and leave chocolate bars instead of flowers. Literally. And no eggs? Forget about it.

Stacy bought herself some chocolate to reintroduce on day 100 AND still hasn’t had it. It’s just sitting in a drawer, with only thinly wrapped foil standing in the way. (Insert mental image of Stacy pacing back and forth in front of the drawer). She decided to go to day 112, which was the 16 week timeline her Doc suggested, and then go from there. Can you imagine the willpower it would take to walk by that drawer everyday and not eat the chocolate?!?! Just thinking about it gives me anxiety. I would have to lock it in a safety deposit box at the bank or something. So anyway Stacy gets a Paleo Gold Star for life and we now refer to her as “The Legend” thanks to one of my favorite blog readers, TSL (This Sydney Life). TSL is also following the AIP Diet and has been motivated in her own journey by Stacy, all the way in Australia, and appropriately named her “The Legend”! How great is that? I love it. You know what you’re going to love? These C4 Paleo Chocolate Chip Dipped Crunch Cookies.

Paleo C4 Cookies
*Makes 24

Ingredients:
2 cups cashew butter (see recipe below)
1/2 cup grass-fed butter, melted
1 organic free-range egg
1/4 cup raw honey, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup coconut flour
2 tablespoons organic maple sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 bag Guittard Extra Dark Chocolate Chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Make cashew butter using recipe below.
2. Put the grass-fed butter in a microwave safe dish and microwave until melted, about 30-60 seconds. Watch closely to make sure it doesn’t get too hot. When most of it has melted, stir to melt any remaining butter.
3. In a medium sized bowl add the melted butter, egg, honey, and vanilla. Make sure the butter isn’t too hot so it doesn’t cook the egg. Mix the ingredients together using a whisk or hand mixer. Set aside.
4. In a separate large bowl add the cashew butter, coconut flour, maple sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour the melted butter mixture on top and stir the ingredients together with a whisk or spoon until completely combined. Fold in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Add more if desired. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes or until dough firms up.
5. Take a handful of dough and roll into a ball about the size of a golf ball. Place on the parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat the process until you have 12 on the tray. Use your palm to slightly press and flatten the balls down into a cookie shape. They will spread some during baking.
6. Bake for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown. Repeat process with remaining dough. Let cool on the baking sheet.
7. While the cookies are cooling, melt the rest of the chocolate chips using the double boiler method by placing a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water and stirring until the chocolate is melted. Then dip the bottom of a cooled cookie in the melted chocolate, tip the bowl to get a better coating if needed. Place back on to the parchment lined baking tray. Once completed, place in the refrigerator to harden for at least 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Cashew Butter
Ingredients:
3 cups raw cashews
2 teaspoons coconut oil, melted
few pinches of sea salt

Directions:
1. In a food processor add your cashews and puree for a few minutes or so depending on how awesome your food processor is. You will have to stop and scrape down the sides a few times. Once you start to get an almost dough like consistency, slowly add the coconut oil and then a little bit of salt and puree some more. For this recipe it doesn’t have to be as finely textured as store bought nut butter, you actually want it to be more dough like.

Notes:
I found these Guittard Extra Chocolate Chips over the weekend and they are my new joy in baking. They are 63% dark chocolate, made in a gluten-free and non-GMO facility with only 4 ingredients: cocoa butter, sugar, sunflower lecithin, and real vanilla. It’s the first chocolate chip that I’ve found that uses sunflower lecithin instead of soy lecithin. You can find them at Sprouts stores and on Amazon. I HIGHLY recommend them! Also you can find Maple Sugar at any health food store or online. It’s another awesome product that I recommend. If you don’t have any on hand, feel free to sub with coconut sugar.

All I want to do is make these cookies again right now this very instant! They are dangerous. I brought all the leftovers into work because I didn’t trust myself. What? You don’t think I could eat all 24 cookies myself? Ahahaha, you’re so cute. So I have a few Valentine’s Day recipes coming up for you guys. Get excited. Unless you’re single and hate everything. Then I’m sorry and I absolutely support sitting on the couch with a pint of Jeni’s grass-fed ice cream in your sweats watching Predator on February the 14th. Wait? Predator? Yes, you can’t watch romantic comedies, that goes against the whole idea of protesting Valentine’s Day. Plus Marshall and Lily from How I Met Your Mother watch it every Valentine’s Day as a tradition. Double plus, it’s just a good movie…the 80’s, Arnold, cheesy one-liners, an alien with dreadlocks, what’s not to like? Oh yeah and shout out to Peter for telling me I should call these “Crunch” cookies instead of “Crunchy” because words that end in “Y” sound childish. Apparently Peter is very high-brow in his cookie naming. This is quality behind the blog scenes action people.