George got me (or, I guess, got Mattis…) a cooking stool for Mother’s Day, and we finally got it built and are having SO MUCH FUN with it. He is undoubtedly going to bust his lip open at the rate that he likes to climb up and down it, but nonetheless! We are cooking machines.
For the past month or so, he’d been tugging at my legs while I was cooking, and every time I’d sit him up on the counter to cook with me, he loved it. But leaving him on the counter wasn’t exactly the safest idea, and after a couple near-wipeouts, we realized we had to upgrade/de-risk the situation.
So far we’ve made lots of smoothies, and now, this freaking fantastic Healthy-ish Edible Cookie Dough.
This cookie dough is based off of a “bliss ball” recipe that I recently developed for a cookbook that I’m ghostwriting. That one includes lots of chia and hemp seeds and other uber-healthy ingredients, but I wanted to keep this one more straightforward to taste as much like regular cookie dough as possible. Without any of the butter, sugar, or flour. Hmmm.
To make the “flour”, I pulse almonds and oats in a blender until finely ground. Then just add the remaining ingredients, blend them up, and voila. Edible, protein-packed cookie dough that you can feel good about feeding to your toddler!
Healthy-ish Edible Cookie Dough
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup almonds
- 3/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (coconut sugar if I have), plus more if needed
- 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 2 tbsp nut butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon almond)
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips/chunks
Substitutes
- Almonds—> use almond flour if you have it! Raw, roasted, salted, any kind of almond works. Or, use your favorite nut. Anything goes!
- Rolled oats—> you can use all nuts or almond flour if you don’t have oats.
- Maple syrup—> coconut sugar, honey, or brown sugar.
- Coconut oil—> use 1/4 cup nut butter and omit the coconut oil entirely.
- Nut butter—> absolutely any nut or seed butter works!
- Vanilla extract—> 1 teaspoon almond extract, or go chocolate by adding 3 tablespoons cocoa powder.
- Sea salt—> any salt works.
- Chocolate chips—> any chocolate works! If you have a bar, chop it up and use that. No chocolate? Make it an oatmeal raisin situation by adding 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/3 cup raisins.
Instructions
- Place 3/4 cup almonds and 3/4 cup oats in a blender and blend until finely ground.
- Add 1/4 cup maple syrup, 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil, 2 tablespoons nut butter, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, and a pinch of sea salt and blend until combined.
- Add 1/3 cup chocolate chips and pulse to combine (or simply stir in).
- Transfer to a small Tupperware and refrigerate. The cookie dough will get better as it chills! Roll into balls and freeze, or keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- 3/4 cup almonds
- 3/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (coconut sugar if I have), plus more if needed
- 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 2 tbsp nut butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon almond)
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips/chunks
Substitutes
- Almonds—> use almond flour if you have it! Raw, roasted, salted, any kind of almond works. Or, use your favorite nut. Anything goes!
- Rolled oats—> you can use all nuts or almond flour if you don’t have oats.
- Maple syrup—> coconut sugar, honey, or brown sugar.
- Coconut oil—> use 1/4 cup nut butter and omit the coconut oil entirely.
- Nut butter—> absolutely any nut or seed butter works!
- Vanilla extract—> 1 teaspoon almond extract, or go chocolate by adding 3 tablespoons cocoa powder.
- Sea salt—> any salt works.
- Chocolate chips—> any chocolate works! If you have a bar, chop it up and use that. No chocolate? Make it an oatmeal raisin situation by adding 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/3 cup raisins.