Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

Week one of the Open 2014 I brought this tasty treat to CrossFit Wachusett to share! They went over pretty well so I thought I would repost the recipe.

The original recipe is from HERE... seriously, check out this amazing food blog. Its called "Living Healthy with Chocolate," I mean, how can you go wrong with that!?!? Of course be careful with the word "paleo" as the chocolate is not exactly 100% paleo and dependant on the brands and types of ingredients you use. 

Also, I doubled the recipe that is listed on the website link because I was making them for a large group. I divided the pan up into 60 small servings. I put the recipe into My Fitness Pal and this is the result of one serving:  Cal. 103, Carb 5g, Fat 8g, Protein 2g.

What you need for the Base:

2/3 C. Pecans

1 C Almond Flour

8 Tbsp Cacao Powder

10 Pitted Dates

1 Tsp Vanilla

1 Tbsp Melted Coconut Oil

What you need for the Top:

1/2 C. Melted Coconut Oil

6 Tbsp Full Fat Coconut Milk

3 Tsp Vanilla

2 Tbsp Honey

3 C. Almond Flour

1 C. Enjoy Life Chips

What You Do:

- In a food processor grid up pecans, put them in a small bowl and set aside

- In the same food processor grind up dates (with no pits) into a paste, might need to add a little water to get it to loosen up.

- In a bowl using a spatula mix together the pecans with almond flour, cacao powder, dates, vanilla and coconut oil. This is not an easy process and will look like it is going to take forever to come together. Don’t add more water just keep working it, it will happen.

- Line a 13X9 pan with parchment paper and press the mixture into the bottom. Set it aside

- Mix together coconut oil, coconut milk, vanilla and honey in a large bowl.

- Add almond flour, do not over mix

- Fold in chips.

- Spread “cookie” over base and refrigerate for at least an hour.

- Enjoy!

 *this pic also came from her website, I forgot to take a good pic before they got devoured!!

Banana Almond Bites

These are fantastic. I had to alter the original recipe a bit since we don’t eat peanut butter… also I make them in mini muffin cups because I couldn’t get them out of the tin. They are wonderful when they are frozen!!

The base recipe came from here... http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/index.cfm/2012/3/21/peanut-butter-banana-cups

*Disclaimer: though the chocolate chips are dairy, nut and soy free they are not considered totally Paleo, so if you are doing a Paleo Challenge or staying completely 100% Paleo this recipe will cost you points.*

What you need:
- 1 ripe banana

- 3/4 cup almond butter (I use Trader Joes with Sea Salt)

- 2 tablespoons honey

- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla

- 2 1/4 teaspoon coconut oil, melted

- Half bag of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

What you do:
- Mix everything but the banana together (I used my Ninja for this and it worked like a charm)

- Fill mini muffin tin with liners

- Cover the bottom with a thin later of batter

- Add a slice of banana

- Cover banana with batter

- Put in freezer for half an hour

- Melt half a bag of chocolate chips on stove top

- Dollop chocolate on each almond butter cup and return to freezer until serving

These guys melt fast so they should be kept in the fridge when not being eaten. 

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Paleo Pumpkin Goodness Bars

We love pumpkin, so these were PERFECT!! Found this gem here… http://fastpaleo.com/paleo-pumpkin-goodness-bars/

*Disclaimer: Honey is considered Paleo in moderation. If doing a Paleo Challenge check the "rules" of your challenge to be sure that it s allowed in moderation or risk losing points.*

What you need:

2 Cups almond flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup honey

1 can pumpkin puree

1 tsp pure vanilla

2 eggs

2 handfuls of crushed pecans

What you do:
- Preheat oven to 375
- Heat coconut oil and honey on low heat (or in the micro)
- Combine everything but the nuts and mix until 

 

- pour batter into 8x8 pan (I would suggest lightly greasing it with coconut oil)

- Sprinkle nuts over 

- Bake 20-30 minutes

- Let cool than refrigerate

Paleo Coffee Cake

I got this recipe here… http://paleoninjas.com/2011/09/06/paleo-coffee-cake/, I made it for Christmas morning at my parents house. It came out ok... I know I want to heat the coconut oil a little less for the topping next time... practice makes perfect on this one!

*Disclaimer: Honey is considered Paleo in moderation. If doing a Paleo Challenge check the "rules" of your challenge to be sure that it s allowed in moderation or risk losing points.*

What you need:

Cake

1/2 cup coconut milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup raw honey

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups almond flour

1/2 cup arrowroot powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Topping

2 tbsp cinnamon

1/4 cup coconut oil

3 tbsp honey

What you do:
- Preheat oven to 325
- Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl
- In smaller bowl mix wet ingredients
- Slowly mix wet into dry

- Pour into 8X8 pan greased with coconut oil

- Mix topping ingredients, and swirl with a knife into cake

- Bake 25-20 minutes

Paleo Eggless Protein Bars

Ok... so I used a whole bunch of recipes as "guidelines" for this one... but I am so so so excited I came up with it on own! I needed a solution to replace my egg muffins in the morning at work that contains enough protein to get me through till lunch. I looked for "egg free" protein bars, but most contained oats and grains, than I looked for "paleo protein bars" and most contained eggs... so whats a girl to do.

Well, come up with a solution on my own!! I know how to bake (these are no bake though) but I am much more comfortable with these types of ingredients than I am with savory ones.

I cant wait to have them this week!! They came out fantastic!!

*Disclaimer: though the chocolate chips are dairy, nut and soy free they are not considered totally Paleo, so if you are doing a Paleo Challenge or staying completely 100% Paleo this recipe will cost you points.*

What you need:
- 2 Cups Sliced Almonds
- 1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut
- 1/2 Cup Almond Butter (I used salted Trader Joes)
- 1 Cup Vanilla Protein Powder
- 1/4 Tsp Salt
- 1/2 Cup Coconut Oil
- 1 Tbsp Vanilla
- 1 Tbsp Agave
- 1 Cup "Enjoy Life" Soy Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free Chocolate Chips

What you do:
- Melt coconut oil in a small sauce pan.
- At the same time combine almonds, coconut, and almond butter in a food processor, blend
- Transfer to bowl (or if you have a large enough food processor I suppose you could keep it in there) and add protein powder and salt than mix with hand mixer
- At this point the coconut oil should be done melting, add vanilla and agave
- Mix into nut mixture
- Press mixture into 8X8 Pan
- Let refrigerate for an hour
- Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips over really low heat (mixing constantly)
- Pour over chilled bars
- Return to fridge for another 20 minutes and they should be ready to serve!

I had Hubs test when he got home from the gym... he said they were fantastic! So proud of myself!!

Fig Pinwheel Cookie (redemption)

So, after my horrible experience with the cupcakes I had to do something yummy to redeem myself! My friend at worked lent me a paleo cookbook and it had a "treats and cheats" section. I wish I could remember the name of the book... I just copied a few recipes out of it.

*Disclaimer: Honey is considered paleo in moderation. If doing a Paleo Challenge check the "rules" of your challenge to be sure that it is allowed in moderation or risk losing points.*

This is one of them... I have now made these 4 times. They are DYNAMITE!! Absolutely redeemed myself from the epic fail!!

These take a little while to make, and they are a little complicated, but once you get the hang of it they get easier!

What you need:
- 3 Cups Almond Flour
- 1 Tsp Baking Soda
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 2 Eggs
- 1/2 Cup Pure Maple Syrup
- 1 Tsp Vanilla
- 1/2 Cup Coconut Oil
- 1 Cup Dried Figs
- 1/2 Cup Pomegranate Juice

What you do:
- Chop the figs up (or cut them with kitchen scissors), let them soak in pomegranate juice for an hour
- While they are soaking start the batter by mixing all the dry ingredients (save a little almond flour for flouring the wax paper for rolling)
- In another bowl mix the eggs, maple syrup and vanilla
- Mix the dry and the wet together slowly
- Melt Coconut oil than add to the batter
- Chill dough in freezer for 20 minutes
- Preheat oven to 375
- Heat figs (after the hour is up) over medium-low heat till they are soft than blend in food processor. Set aside until cool, you dont want to make the roll with hot filling.
- Once dough is cold and filling is cool roll out dough between two pieces of wax paper (coating the bottom with a little almond flour to prevent sticking)
- Spread filling over rolled out dough
- Roll up as tightly as possible
- Return roll to freezer for 20 minutes
- Slice into 1/2" Pinwheels
- Coat cookie sheet with thin layer of coconut oil
- Leave enough space on cookie sheet (they will spread)
- Bake for 10-15 minutes (till brown) and remove immediately from cookie sheet for cooling.
- ENJOY!!