Happy Valentine's Day!

Fruit and Nut Cookies

I am trying to resist all those chocolate temptations in front of me today. It is not easy and I am not sure I'll be completely successful, but having a few paleo treats at hand sure helps. It's my day off from cooking, but I made these last week and they take the edge off my sweets cravings. Go easy - these are high in carbs. (I think these would come out great if pressed into a pan, baked, and cut into bars.)

¼ cup dried apricots

1 ½ cups dates

3/4 cup almonds

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

1 ½ tablespoons almond butter

1 egg
½ cup raisins

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tablespoons maple syrup

Substitute any combination of dried fruit and nuts.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Put apricots, dates, and almonds in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is coarsely chopped. (If you don’t have a food processor, chop ingredients finely with a knife.) Add coconut, almond butter, egg, raisins, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Pulse once or twice or mix until egg is well incorporated.

Grease hands with some cooking spray or oil. Pinch about 1 tablespoon batter out of bowl and roll into a ball. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, placing cookies about 2 inches apart. Cook for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Move to a plate or rack to cool.

Finally, warmer weather is on its way!

Coming up this week: recipes for the grill.