My sister 'M' is brilliant, funny, great mother/wife/friend/sister, and a former-converted-wheat-flour-baker. Some of my best advanced nutritional information comes from her. She's the BEST. She has been perfecting this recipe using her favorite ingredient on earth. Her kids would bathe in it if she had it her way. They already eat it everyday! She submitted her recipe recently and WON! Congratulations 'M'!!!! Here is how she told ('spammed') the good news to us and all her friends...
"My recipe for Coconut-Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies was chosen to be published on the Tropical Traditions website. Please check it out!! I attached a picture of the final product.
'M's Gluten-Free Coconut Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies
(click on title for recipe: Tropical Traditions)
4 eggs
2 tablespoons coconut oil
3/4 cup raw honey OR 1 cup organic sugar
16 oz. (2 cups) Coconut Cream Concentrate
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chocolate chips, optional
1 cup walnuts or pecans, optional
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1. Beat oil and sugar (or honey) together (5 min), then add eggs, one at a time until completely incorporated, then mix for another 2-3 min.
Recipe should be: beat oil and sugar together (5 min), then add eggs, one at a time until completely incorporated, then mix for another 2-3 min. Then add the rest of the ingredients.
2. Add coconut cream concentrate, vanilla and baking soda, mix 3 minutes until well combined and no specks of coconut cream concentrate are noticeable (completely incorporated).
3. Add optional ingredients of your choice. Bake in large spoonfuls (ice cream scoop-size) for 15 min, or small spoonfuls for 8-10 min.
4. ENJOY! Yum!
Note: For a "chunkier" cookie omit the 2 tablespoons coconut oil. The oil is necessary for "spreadability."
The "coconut cream of concentrate" can be substituted for any nut butter (my favorite is almond butter - it makes a crunchier cookie).
Looks like a "regular" cookie, or scone, huh? Our whole family has been gluten-free (gluten is the protein found in wheat, rye and barley) for 6 months. And it has been a battle! Wheat is in almost everything - just yesterday I was spring-cleaning underneath the sink, and the hair gel we use had "wheat protein" listed in its ingredients. Hair gel!
Wheat is insidious. It feels impossible to get away from it! Here are 2 links that I just love. The first one is written by a brilliant doctorate candidate in neurobiology. He found the research that shows that most Americans have a genetic predisposition to having some level of gluten-insensitivity. (For our kids - all 4 of them!! - they get a double whammy b/c it's on both Trent and my side) The second link is written by Dr. J. Mercola, and he discusses the way flour is processed, and how it's different now then 60 years ago, and how the current methodology creates a compound (Alloxan) that is used to induce diabetes in lab rats (in order to conduct diabetes testing).
Gluten Sensitivity and Celiac Disease
(Stephan's Whole Health Source blog)
Dangers of Alloxan and Chlorine Gas -- Little Known Secrets about Bleached Flour
(Dr.Mercola's blog)
It connects the dots as far as the increased consumption of wheat products and our current epidemic of children developing "adult-onset" Type 2 Diabetes. They've actually had to rename T2D and drop the "adult-onset" b/c children were getting it at such an alarming number!
I won 2 quarts of organic, virgin coconut oil (VCO) for my recipe. To me, this is gold. It's worth more than the $40 it costs. I love coconut oil, especially this company's way of making it and doing business. Their coconut oil has high levels of caprylic and lauric acid, mid-chain triglycerides (MCTs). MCT's are what they feed preemies in the hospital. It has really brought us a step closer to optimal health.
I fully endorse the way this company does business. Everything we've received from them (from a personal call to ensure we weren't victims of internet scandal - I had a very large order once! - to the high quality product, to the expediency from ordering to receiving) has been highly professional with a personal touch. If you decide to buy anything from them, I urge you to use the referral program - only b/c I get 2 free qts of VCO, and as I said earlier, this is like gold to me! My user ID is 4755518."
Thanks for the shout-out - I would bathe the kids in coconut oil if it didn't leave their hair so greasy!! As it is, I slather coconut oil all over them when they get out of the tub - has done wonders to kill their yeast intestinally.
ReplyDeleteI am sure your compadres will agree, your knowledge is worth gold. Thank you for firmly planting my feet on this path of optimal health - with a wink of fun!
Love, M
Hi M!!
ReplyDelete*WINK OF FUN BACK AT U!!*
Unfortunately sometimes we have too much fun!
My experience now with coconut oil is totally cemented as well! As you know sometimes I'm a clutz (lately, a lot). Had some cuts, cat-scratches, and got my finger crunched in the window when it was shut accidentally by friend recently. I put only coconut oil on the open wounds and a bandaid. WOW -- in just 24 hrs to 48hrs the wounds were nearly healed and scabbed. Most of my open wounds end up pink, painful and festering/infected within days prior to coconut oil. I've thrown away all our bacitracin (which was worthless any).
!!!! U R right!! Coconut oil is truly wonderful stuff :)
Love ya so much,
G
Antibacterial and antifungal ... gotta luv that!
ReplyDeleteThose cookies look sooo good. I showed them to my wife and she ran into the kitchen to make them, but discovered that we're fresh out of coconut oil and don't have coconut cream concentrate. Very sad. :( Soon, though. Very soon.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of injuries, my mom burned her hand pretty bad the other day, and I suggested that she try putting some vitamin D drops on it. I've never heard of anyone doing that, but I wondered if it might be beneficial, given vitamin D's cell growth regulating properties. The next day the burn was almost completely healed, and now it looks like there won't even be a scar. I don't know if this is due to the vitamin D oil or not (should've burned the other hand as a control! Haha), but it sure seemed like it did something.
I use a lot of coconut oil myself. Which company are you referring to to buy it from?
ReplyDeleteI also put some of the remnants of jars in my bathroom and rub a little on my face at night. I'll have no problem looking young when I'm 70! :)
David,
ReplyDeleteEverything 'M' bakes is delish... that's why I gain 1-2 lbs after hanging out with her :) She used to bake for a local cafe commercially. WOW -- your mom's burn recovery sounds wonderful! I am not surprised at all. (I think opening the NOW brand 5000 IU caps are cheaper than the drops and probably more concentrated.)
That is very VERY cool. The potent collagen remodelling and inflammatory and immune control benefit of the 'D' are quite remarkable.
-G
Brett,
ReplyDeleteYou know... we have little pots of coconut oil in our bathrooms too (in little containers or babyfood jars)! I try to smear it all over my kids but they resist and run away... b/c they find the smell too much. Since my sister 'M' started sharing all the benefits of coconut oil with me and I saw how it vastly accelerated my wound healing, I started using it on my (iatrogenic) acne, smile-wrinkles, face and !!WOWOW -- they improve in just 24hrs. I'm hooked!! Many of the top tier Bloomingdale, etc cosmetic creams and body lotions contain caprylic acid as one of the first 1-3 ingredients. What is it? Just a fancy schmancy name for 10 cents coconut oil :)
I've started using it as a sunscreen too. Now with the weather so perfect and sunny, sometimes I get a heat rash after an afternoon run but if I put the coconut oil on beforehand, no redness or itchiness. (I think I'm getting some gluten still...d*mn it's the once a month Corona/BEER *urg*). If I don't do anything, the rash runs it's course for 1-2 days, but within an hour after applying coconut oil on, surprisingly the redness and sensitivity subsides in just 60min. The stuff is truly... fantastic.
-G
Maybe the NOW brand is more concentrated, but Carlson D drops are diluted in coconut oil, which is itself good for burns (fractionated to keep it liquid).
ReplyDeleteI also use coconut before going out in the sun. I slather it on before I go out to cut the grass, and it seems to work well. For sunburns, I mix coconut oil with essential oil of lavender and a little bit of peppermint. Very soothing. This summer I'm going to add some D to the mix and see what happens -- provided I burn at all.
Have you read any of Bruce Fife's books on coconut oil? It was one of his books that originally got me on this coconut oil kick all those years ago. He's a good writer, and I've given his books away to several friends who I thought needed some extra saturated fat in their lives. :)
David,
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about the coconut oil in the Carlson's drops. Ahh...! The Coconut Oil! :) That maybe part of the healing potion *aha*
No haven't read Fife yet but my sister gave me Shilalvy from Tropical Traditions -- it has some CAD references that I'll blog about later (someday).
Anna freq talks about vitamin K in drops which she adds to food -- I was going to start that too. Now that we've limited our dairy, our intake for fermented foods is limited. I tried Natto -- *yuck* my parents and I eat (rarely) the dried soybeans but the fermented ones are indeed a special acquired taste.
The clients who receive your personal attention, training, and consults are quite LUCKY folks! You're awesome!
-G
I still haven't tried Natto. It looks awful. And keep in mind that I'm kind of the primitive type-- taught wilderness survival, SERE, etc., ate a lot of NASTY things... But Natto is just gross looking. I'd rather eat turtle brains than dig into that stuff. Of course, I suppose from the looks of it, I could just try to think of it as rice crispies on steroids...Hmmm... That's marshmallowy gooey goodness gone terribly wrong. :-P
ReplyDeleteI never thought of adding K2 right into food like that. Good idea! My dairy is really limited, too, except for a bit of hard cheese now and then. I get Life Extension's Super K supplement. Easy, pretty cheap, and it has a good amount of K2 in it.
Please do post on the coconut oil/CAD references at some point. Can't get enough of that stuff. Haven't read the Shilhavy book yet.
David
Hi David!
ReplyDeleteNatto is more effective than Ipecac...for... puking! :)
I'd rather source my K2 from drops or what we're talking about on the TYP forum is this, posted by CootCraig:
INVITE Vitamin K2
Serving size: 1 vegetarian Vcaps® capsule Servings Per Container: 90 Amount Per Serving % Daily
(Menaquinone-4) 500 mcg
(Menaquinone-7) 500 mcg
(Philloquinone) 1000 mcg
Buy One: $15.96
Buy 3: $39.90
I have a Lp(a) post coming up... and I owe Gibby a Taurine update (TYP report). All coming soon...! :)
-G
BTW... my sis 'M' just came to visit and her recipe is D E L I C I O U S !!!!!!
ReplyDeletebuttery yummy better than Mrs. Fields and d*mn better than any storebought cookie!! You'll love it! I ran 8miles today -- so I deserve a little diabetogenic-carbs *ha*
-casein free
-dairy free
-wheat/gluten free
-naught ADDICTION free *wink*
-G
I think this is the link you intended to Mercola's article.
ReplyDeleteDangers of Alloxan and Chlorine Gas -- Little Known Secrets about Bleached Flour
David -
ReplyDeleteQuick note: you can substitute any nut butter for the cream of concentrate. The product "Coconut cream of concentrate" is ground coconut meat (with all the wonderful coco oil intact). It reminds me of peanut-butter, but with a coconut twist. Coconut-butter!
I use 2 c. almond butter, 2 eggs, 3/4 c. b. sugar, 1 tsp. baking soda and 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 c. chocolate chips, bake at 350 for 10-15 mins: voila! The best cookies you've had since you've gone gluten free.
Let me know how they turn out for you! -M
Ted,
ReplyDeleteOops! Thank you -- it is now corrected!
-G
'M'
ReplyDeleteActually the ones you brought over look more like Mrs. Fields than the ones shown in the picture. O...M...G... so YUMMPTIOUS!!
-G
Thanks for the tip, M!
ReplyDeleteI'm an almond butter JUNKIE, so I think this will work out quite nicely indeed. I'll report back here whenever I get around to making these.
David
David!
ReplyDelete*aha ha* My sister was just sharing with me that almonds (and 3 other nuts) contain MCT oil, same medium chain saturated fatty acids as coconut oil.
"...Percentage of the saturated fatty acids was found 10.6% and 10.3% for the immature and mature seed oils, respectively."
Liposomal formulations from phospholipids of Greek almond oil. Properties and biological activity.
Almonds (or oil, either) also
-raise HDL 6%
-lower LDL 6%
-lower TGs 14%
-(lower Lp(a) as well)
Almonds and almond oil have similar effects on plasma lipids and LDL oxidation in healthy men and women.
I spent an insane amount of dough$$$ at Whole Foods to try these 'raw' chocolate truffles... I could've made myself (but haven't had time)
My recipe would have in there unrefined coconut oil, raw almond butter, some raw honey and *MMmm* CHOCOLATE (I'd melt me some 70-85% cocoa chocolate bar), chopped toasted pecans/walnuts, and roll up into either coconut shreds or some cocoa powder. The whole thing would just be a vehicle for the chocolate...
-G
Oooh, MCT oil. YES. Love it. I could eat almonds all day long (and have been known to do exactly that!). Good thing, too, since I have the dreaded Lp(a). Gotta start preventative measures when you're young, you know. And if that involves eating delicious food, so be it. I can handle that.
ReplyDeleteYour would-be recipe sounds like a winner. I can't think of a more perfect combination of ingredients.
All the "paleo blogs" (including this one) keep distracting me today. I really need to focus on this physics exam... Life is tough.
David,
ReplyDeleteYes...life is tough. My handle on taxes and helping the kids have a fun spring break are tough *haa*... There is a purpose for physics... it just escaped me during college!
-G
OOOPS!! Make that 4 eggs (NOT 2 eggs) for the almond butter/coconut-butter cookies - exact same recipe, just substitute almond butter for the "cream of concentrate."
ReplyDeleteI CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S GLUTEN-FREE!
Mmm... eggs... so GOOD for ya! :)
ReplyDelete4 eggs. Got it.
ReplyDeleteI just ate two eggs. Yes. Scrambled eggs for dinner. I know you're all jealous.
Hilarious... I had 3 at 3pm for a snack.
ReplyDelete