Paleo Chai Spice Cookies

Oh, chai. Sigh. Everyone loves you, it seems.

Oh, Paleo diet. Every other person loves you, too.

So why not marry the chai lovers with the people eating perfectly-Paleo, with a capital P (really- Paleo has earned its own capital P)? Done.

I stumbled across this recipe because I’ve been wondering about eating a bit healthier these days. (For the record- I’m not doing it, I’m just wondering about it.) A friend of mind eats coconut oil out of the jar, along with 72%+ dark chocolate (she actually scoops the coconut oil onto her little pieces of chocolate, like how the rest of us scoop French onion dip onto our rippled chips). Her coconut oil thing made me wonder. And I’m loving the people over at Kitchfix, a Chicago-based company that makes & delivers prepared foods that are Paleo friendly, gluten-free, dairy-free, anti-inflammatory and organic (yeah, a bit of a huge health agenda… but somehow their stuff tastes even better than amazing). So that got me thinking too. Maybe I need more Paleo in my life? I’ll start with these cookies. That’ll do just fine for now. :)

Adapted from That Gluten Free Girl’s recipe…

1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons almond meal

1/2 cup tapioca starch (or arrowroot)

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground star anise OR fennel seeds*

1/2 cup coconut oil (in solid form)

1/3 cup maple syrup (Grade B if possible)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350º and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, maple syrup, and vanilla until well blended. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well. Chill for at least an hour.
3. Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet about 2-3″ apart from one another. Bake for 10-12 minutes and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
Tips:
- Word to the wise- chill these cookies before baking or they’ll end up like flat like mine in the photo above.
- *Skip the ground star anise/ fennel seeds if you aren’t a licorice fan.
- Why Grade B maple syrup? It has such a rich maple taste, more so than the Grade A you’ll find in abundance on the store shelves. (This means you’ll have to hunt a bit for it, which is worth it. If you really can’t find or just don’t care, then A will be just fine.)
- These freeze well. Wrap tightly to prevent freezer burn :).
- Enjoy!
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August 29th, 2015 | More Sweets Please | 1 Comment | Tags: Cookies, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free