Which cookies are guilt-free?
Hopefully the cookies that when you smell them, you smile, then your mouth waters and you are satisfied with every bite. Or when you see a baked good do you automatically go into resistance mode and deny yourself or do you rebel and say why not, or do you spend a moment connecting with your body and digestive tract to decide if you will feel good and guilt free from it?
Sometimes we can anticipate when something isn’t going to taste or feel good in our bodies. Try to notice the destructive thoughts in your mind and observe the feeling of “maybe I want this”. I bet your maybe usually means no. If you are having a thought war and you are not totally into the cookie, then I would hold. But if you share my recent experience when I recently smelled a cookie and was so excited to try them. And bam, I loved them and found out how amazing the ingredients were.
This Lemon Gem cookie recipe (below) was upgraded with monk fruit sugar and garbanzo bean flour by a brilliant woman named Monique.
Have a gorgeous holiday and enjoy what truly feels like a YES and a win-win,
Heather Fleming, C.C.N.
Recipe: Monique’s Lemon Gems:
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup monk fruit sugar (Organic Monk Fruit by Julian Bakery)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon lemon extract
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1 tablespoon honey
2 cups garbanzo bean flour
pinch salt, optional and to taste
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Icing:
Monk fruit sugar, lemon juice & honey heated in a sauce pan.
DIRECTIONS:
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer) combine the butter, sugar, egg, lemon extract, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed, light, fluffy, and well combined, about 4 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the lemon zest, honey and beat on medium-high speed until well combined, about 2 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the flour, optional salt, and baking soda (keep the baking soda in a nice little mound rather than sprinkling it).
- Add the lemon juice directly on top of the baking soda. It will bubble and foam, which means the baking soda has been activated and this is good; if your soda doesn’t bubble it’s old and expired. Beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and using a 1/4-cup measure, or your hands, form approximately 12 equal-sized mounds of dough, roll into balls, and flatten slightly.
- Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to 5 days. Do not bake with un-chilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart and bake for about 10 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center. Cookies firm up as they cool. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving.
