Coconut Almond Chocolate Chunk Cookies (Gluten & Dairy-Free)

Someone I work with likes to use the term "amazeballs" and it is the perfect word to describe these cookies. Each bite is rich and super flavorful - coconut-y, chocolate-y and almond-y - sorta like a Manischewitz chocolate macaroon had a baby with an Almond Joy bar - but better. Wheat flour would just dilute the flavor.

I personally love both wheat and dairy and have to admit that taste, not health, is almost always my primary consideration when I bake. So when I say that these cookies are delicious, I sincerely mean it. But the fact that they are gluten and dairy-free is a nice plus since it means that more people will be able to enjoy them.

My friend Lana handed me one of these cookies, fresh from the oven, a couple of weeks ago as we got in the car for our semi-monthly trek to the nearest Trader Joe's. While I munched in bliss, she chattered enthusiastically about the recipe from her new favorite cookbook, The Sprouted Kitchen.

An hour later we arrived at the TJs, managed to find a parking spot without too much bloodshed (their surprisingly undersized lot is reminiscent of "getting real in the Whole Foods parking lot" video) and headed in, armed with shopping lists, armfuls of canvas tote bags and multiple insulated freezer bags.

I knew I would be making these cookies soon so I added a few more impromptu items to my list - almond meal, shredded coconut, chocolate chunks and coconut oil.

I had an urge to bake the other afternoon and busted out the simple ingredients for these cookies. I even managed to take a picture of them (I am still mourning the loss of the kitchen counters in our last house - the bluestone was so pretty!) However, as seems to be the case any time I attempt to take a "here are all the ingredients you'll need" picture, I left something out - in this case, sugar - but this gives you a pretty good idea, at least.

I mixed the dry ingredients together, adding a little bit of cocoa powder to enhance the chocolate flavor.

Then I melted the coconut oil which solidifies unless it is really hot out. But it melts quickly and easily, especially when placed on top of a woodstove!

Beat the egg and added the vanilla and coconut oil to it. Then added the wet ingredients to the dry and stirred to combine. Into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes while I worked on the rest of dinner (which included a divine kale and avocado salad.)

Formed the dough into balls, placed 'em on the baking sheet and pressed them down a bit then into the oven for a quick bake - 8 minutes only. Took 'em out once the edges began to brown and let them cool a little.

I was glad that I did not cook them for longer as I really enjoyed how soft they are. there are a lot of pretty hearty things in these little cookies so they stand up really well without needing to be super crunchy, unless you like your cookies really crunchy in which case, cook them for a minute or two longer and go to town.

-- print recipe --Coconut Almond Chocolate Chunk Cookies
adapted from The Sprouted Kitchen cookbook
Makes 20 cookies (I strongly suggest you make a double batch - they'll go quickly!)

Ingredients

* 1 1/4 cups almond meal
* 1/4 cup chopped chocolate
* 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
* 2 Tbsp cocoa powder (optional)
* 1/3 cup brown sugar
* 1 egg (try to get pasture-raised from a farm near you)
* 3 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
* 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together almond meal, dark chocolate chips, coconut, baking powder, cocoa, salt and sugar.

2. In a separate bowl, beat egg until uniform in color and doubled in volume.

3. Whisk in the coconut oil and vanilla, then add to dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

4. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or even overnight.

5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Shape dough into 1-inch balls, place on baking sheet with 1-1/2 inch space in between each. Press down slightly to flatten a bit. Bake until edges begin to brown, 7-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool before serving.

You might also like:

• Mandarin Coconut Cookies (vegan)
• Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (NOT vegan, NOT gluten-free & NOT dairy-free!)
• Chocolate Hazelnut Spread a.k.a. Homemade Nutella

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Potatoes au Gratin

Potatoes au gratin is one of those dishes that makes me feel sad for people who either can't or won't eat dairy because they're missing out on something so simple, so delicious, and so comforting. This is the kind of food that makes me think I must've been a French peasant in a past life. A very fat, French peasant...

You may have noticed (or not) that it's been radio silence over here for a while. There's no dramatic reason for it - just life, two small and very demanding children, the need to make ends meet and the ever-present exhaustion of parenting. I finally understand why my mom was always saying that there aren't enough hours in the day...

So meals have been kind of last-minute, rushed affairs that left no time for taking pretty pictures. But enough whining and excuses! I just need to MAKE the time for this 'cause I love it and, hopefully, you do, too.

I went through my massive, ever-growing recipe file this weekend in an attempt to come up with something that looked yummy enough to motivate me to get back on the blogging horse. I found many things but the one page I kept coming back to was this simple recipe for potato gratin -- I really wanted to eat it for dinner. The temperature was dropping rapidly outside, I was tired from many hours of raking leaves while trying to keep up enough small talk to convince my four-year-old that I was really paying attention to him, and it was going to be dark in about half an hour (you know, at 4:30. Sigh.)

One quick shopping trip later, I had four large Russets and a carton of heavy cream and was ready to rumble. Another quick trip out to the nearly dark hoop house yielded a handful of thyme, oregano and parsley (though I completely forgot to sprinkle the oregano and parsley over top of this before serving, memory loss being yet another side effect of parenting)

I busted out the big mandoline for this job as I did not feel like wielding my smaller, handheld one for quite so long (even though it is by far my favorite.)

I rubbed my baking dish with garlic, greased it and set it aside. Then I bathed the sliced potatoes in salted heavy cream mixed with some ground white pepper.

Next came the layering, overlapping slightly and turning each new layer perpendicular to the last.

I topped it with a positive blizzard of freshly grated Parmesan and into the oven it went for an hour or so. It emerged smelling amazing and looking even better with that beautiful browned, crispy crust that is what makes a gratin a gratin. The baking dish had a pleasing weight in my hands. I knew we would be well-fed.

I had to cut myself off after three helpings. Hope you enjoy it, too. By the way, Happy almost Thanksgiving! If you're still looking for recipe ideas, check out my Thanksgiving recipe round up here.

Potatoes Au Gratin
Serves 6

Ingredients

* 4 large Russet potatoes, peeled
* 1 1/2 cups organic heavy cream (buy pasture-raised if you can - Organic Valley is a good bet if you don't have a local source)
* 1/4-1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
* 1 tsp sea salt
* 1/4 tsp freshly ground white pepper (if you have it)
* 1 clove of garlic, peeled and cut in half
* Butter to grease the gratin dish
* Several branches of fresh thyme, washed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Using a mandoline (or very sharp knife), slice the potatoes thinly. Stir the salt and white pepper into the heavy cream and then submerge the potato slices and turn to ensure that they're all coated well.

3. Lay the sliced potatoes in a single layer, overlapping the slices slightly. Turn the next row so that the slices lie perpendicular to the previous row. Continue until you've used them all up. Top with the grated Parmesan and bake for roughly one hour, until the top is browned and crisped. Remove and let cool slightly before serving.

You might also like:

• Swiss Chard & Barley Gratin
• Turnip Gratin
• Quinoa & Spinach Gratin

Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.

Grilled Chicken So Easy, It Feels Like Cheating

I have a one-year-old, a four-year-old, a husband, a job, a garden, a yard, and a house that we're always semi-renovating, among other things. In short, I have no time. Yet we still need to eat, quite regularly, in fact. And I want what we eat to be both delicious and good for us. So I am a BIG fan of this simple chicken - it's so easy and so good. And the grilling makes for easier clean up, too.

I like to use boneless, skinless thighs (please ignore the fact that the chicken pieces in the photos are not thighs!) Thighs are juicier than breasts, cook more quickly and are the perfect size, no cutting required. They're also a lot cheaper than breasts.

As always, try to find meat from a farmer near you that uses humane and organic practices. Just a note that many small farmers can't afford to get organic certification even though they do farm using organic methods. So not having certification is not necessarily a reason to rule a good local source out. The beauty of buying locally is that you can go and visit to see for yourself and/or ask around to get a better sense of what a farm is like. Or, if you live around here, you can also just go to Fleishers Meats in Kingston!

It does not take much time to prepare this chicken but you do need to start in the morning by throwing together a quick marinade. I like to use olive oil, fresh rosemary, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper and a little bit of salad dressing which I think of as "flavor in a bottle" (I can practically hear the little gasps of shock and horror from the purists!)

Although I am now beyond redemption in the eyes of true foodies, I will note for the rest of you that I do use a good quality, organic dressing with only unobjectionable ingredients that comes in a glass bottle to limit our BPA exposure. And, while I'm confessing all my shameful secrets, I should add that I sometimes use bottled organic lemon juice if I don't have any fresh lemons in the house.

It only takes a few minutes to throw all of this stuff together, promise. Then let the chicken soak up those good flavors all day in the fridge.

When dinner time rolls around, throw the chicken onto a pre-heated grill and cook them over medium heat for about ten minutes, turning them once.

I really hate to throw away a good marinade - seems like such a waste! So sometimes, I dump it into a frying pan and let it cook down for a few minutes (sometimes I add a little white wine) until I have a nice pan sauce to ladle over the grilled chicken and the quinoa. But that is totally optional, of course.

I like to serve this with quinoa cooked in vegetable broth (so much tastier that way) and either baked sweet potatoes or a salad but it goes well with lots of things if those ideas don't appeal to you.

-- print recipe --Simple Grilled Chicken
Serves 4

Ingredients

* 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs from a farm near you (if you have a lot of big meat eaters to feed, you may want to increase to 1 1/2 lbs)

For the marinade:
* 3 Tbps olive oil
* Juice of two lemons (orange, grapefruit, or tangerine would work well, too)
* 1/4 cup Italian or Caesar salad dressing (use a good one!)
* 1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary, rinsed, dried, stems removed and needles chopped
* 1 tsp honey or maple syrup
* 1/2 tsp sea salt
* 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Prepare the marinade by whisking all the ingredients together.

2. Place the chicken thighs in the marinade, turning to coat all sides. I usually stick the meat with a fork a bunch of times to let more flavor soak in. Cover and put in the fridge for at least 2 hours and up to a day.

3. Light the grill and let it heat up to high then clean with a wire brush. Lower the heat to medium and place the chicken thighs on the grate. Cover and cook for 5 minutes then turn and cook for 5 more minutes or until tested done. Remove from the meat from the grill and let it rest for a few minutes before serving.

You might also like:

• Chicken Milanese On a Bed of Arugula & Tomatoes
• Grilled Pork Chops With Balsamic-Glazed Peaches
• Spiced Lamb Kabobs With Tomato Jam

Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.