Crispy Chai Spiced Cookies (paleo, keto)

I am never late for anything. NEVER. If you invite me over for 5:00 pm, I will be there at 4:55. Sharp!

This sometimes drives people crazy. As for me, punctuality is the show of respect: I respect your time and you respect mine.

So for the first time in my life, I am LATE. The season of cookies is clearly behind us – just look at all those shopping carts bursting with collard greens, detox powders, and Beyond-Meat burgers. And yet, here I am, posting a cookie recipe for you in the middle of January.

Clearly, I am late to the cookie game!

Or am I? Here are my thoughts:

You and all those people with collard greens in their carts are starting a year with resolutions: to eat less junk, consume less sugar, drink less booze. Yet based on the historical evidence, most New Years’ diets fail miserably. And set you back a few pounds (and drinks). Yes, you start off with great intentions… but only last so long… until you are back on the carb-loading, night-drinking wagon. And that is because your body wants what your body wants, and you can’t fool it. So instead of completely cutting it off from sweets, alcohol, and comfort food, Dr. CuceeSprouts recommends swapping unhealthy deserts for healthy desserts, unhealthy comfort meals for healthy comfort meals, unhealthy drinks for the healthy ones.

And to help you with your first healthy food swap – here is my no-sugar, no-flour cookie recipe for you! Happy New “Rear”!

Do you need more ideas for healthy food or drink swaps?

Food swaps:

Kelp noodles for wheat pasta
Vegi Rice for regular rice
Cauliflower mash for mashed potatoes
Oven-baked almond-coated chicken for breaded fried chicken

Drinks swaps:

Extra Brut IPA, the Champagne-inspired bone-dry beer, with zero residual sugar for the carby Lager
Dry-farmed natural European reds (more on that in another post) for the loaded-with-sugar-and-additives Californian

Crispy Chai Spiced Cookies (paleo, keto)

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup Almond flour
1/4 cup Coconut flour
1/2 cup Avocado Oil
1-2 Tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (to taste or replace with Cinnamon)
Stevia to taste
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 Egg

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, combine, avocado oil, egg, and vanilla
In a separate bowl combine Stevia, almond flour, coconut flour, pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon,) salt, and baking powder
Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until a dough forms
If you plan to use a cookie-cutter to shape the cookies, chill the dough for 45 minutes. Otherwise, proceed directly to the next step
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper
Shape the cookies.
– For the cookie-cutter cookies: place the dough ball onto the parchment paper, cover with a layer of saran wrap, roll out, and cut into shapes
– For thumbprint cookies, separate the dough into many 1-inch balls and flatten each ball with your thumb (my go-to method when in the rush)
Bake for 12-14 minutes
Cool cookies on a cooling rack. Store in an air-tight container