My name is Claire and I love chocolate. Over the years my tastes have become more refined and mature (I’m making fun of myself in case you didn’t read the sarcasm) and I find the bitter, dark stuff tempting me more and more.

Unfortunately, eating chocolate at the moment, has painful consequences for little Ollie. His baby tummy just does not like it and I would rather give up chocolate for life than see the pained look on his face again. Strangely, anything made with raw cacao doesn’t seem to bother him. As you can imagine this choc-lover has been whipping up a batch of raw chocolate every couple of days to satisfy my sweet tooth.

One thing I have been seriously craving though is chocolate chip cookies. Oh how I miss them. Then I spotted a recipe on The Whole Pantry App using cacao nibs. I thought ‘if it looks like a choc-chip cookie, will it fool my taste buds into thinking that’s what they’re getting?’

The answer? A resounding yes. My goodness yes. Despite having no refined sugar, unhealthy fats, dairy, gluten or soy, these biscuits taste super naughty but still can’t really be called calorie-free. They’re made with nearly all almond meal which is not the lightest of ingredients.

Being made with only almond meal does mean good things though. They taste like a giant salted, roasted almond with choc-chips studded through. The real inspiration for these came when my sister brought be back a jar of organic dulce de leche from her trip to Tasmania (thanks Sis). It’s made using coconut milk and coconut sugar so totally healthy (right?) and it tastes just like the real, sugar-packed deal.

I knew I had to come up with a way to use some of it or I’d be eating it fresh from the jar.

That’s how Paleo almond and dulce de leche thumbprints came to be in all their deliciousness. The got the tick of approval from Mother’s group which is tricky too because lots of the mums are on special diets for their bubs’ colic/reflux/bad tummy (this being a mum stuff is tough on the diet!). I think they’d also be good filled with a little bit of nut butter or even a healthy Nutella.

Oh and they’re one of those throw-it-all-in-the-bowl biscuits too. Have I sold you yet? I hope so. Enjoy!

What about you? Have you had to give up any foods you love recently?

5.0 from 2 reviews

Paleo almond and dulce de leche thumbprints

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

Author: Adapted from Whole Pantry

: (Whole Pantry - http://thewholepantryapp.com/)

Serves: 20

Ingredients

• 260g almond meal
• 5 tbsp melted coconut oil
• A handful of cacao nibs
• 4 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• ½ tsp sea salt flakes
• ½ tsp baking powder
• Pale dulce de leche for filling (find a similar recipe here http://glutenfreeskinny.net/tag/paleo-dulce-de-leche/)
• Desiccated coconut for decoration

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170C (340F) fan-forced and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. In a large bowl, stir together all the ingredients except the dulce de leche.
3. Use a tablespoon of dough at a time and roll it into balls then press lightly between your hands and place on the baking tray.
4. Gently indent the middle with your finger.
5. Repeat with the remaining dough.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
7. Leave on the tray for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. When cool, fill each one with a little dulce de leche

3.2.2310