Pistachio Cacao Cookies

These cookies are gluten/grain free, vegan, dairy free, and much lower in sugar than traditional cookies. If you like pistachios and chocolate - you will love them! They are so pretty too!

I like to use Tiger Nut flour in these because it is a very good source of resistant starch AKA the skinny starch - learn more about skinny starches in my book - "The Skinny Starch, All About Resistant Starch." Skinny starch helps boost the body's production of GLP-1, which boosts the metabolism, it improves the microbiome and pH of the colon - which may lower colon cancer risk! If you can't find tigernut flour, you can use blanched almond flour instead.

Depending on how sweet you like cookies, you can adjust the monk fruit amount. I have listed the monk fruit amount where I like them - slightly sweet. And because there are no eggs in this recipe - you can just taste the batter & adjust before you cook them! Remember that you will be topping them with melted chocolate.

Cookie Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup Pistachios

• 1/3 cup Maple Syrup


• 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil (melted)

• 2 Tablespoons raw cacao powder

• 4 Tablespoons Tiger Nut flour (alternatively you can use blanched almond)


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

• 1/8 tsp salt (skip if using salted pistachios)

• 2 Tablespoons monk fruit powder (add 1 more Tablespoon if you think it should be sweeter)

Topping:

• 1/3 cup dark or semi sweet choc chips (melted)

• 1/2 tsp coconut oil

• Optional - roughly chopped pistachios (about 2 Tablespoons - you can spin them in the food processor if you like)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F.

2. Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper

3. Pulse the pistachios in food processor until it is a fine powder (like rough sand).

4. Melt coconut oil (either in a warm toaster oven, or microwave, doesn't take long, like 20 seconds, this is not needed in warm climates, as coconut oil is liquid above about 76 degrees).

5. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor, pulse till it looks like wet sand, and starts to clump together. If it looks too sticky, add another Tablespoon of flour,

6. Lightly coat hands in coconut oil (this is key, do not skip this step)

7. Scoop out a teaspoon and roll into ball, place on parchment. (I like to use this teaspoon cookie scooper.)

8. Press the cookies flat (either with the heel of your hand or flat bottom cup)

9. Bake for 12-14 mins. (Should just start to lightly brown on edges). Let them cool.

10. Melt the chocolate chips & stir the coconut oil in to melted chocolate.

11. Spoon melted chocolate on to the top of the cookies.

12. Sprinkle a pinch of the finely chopped pistachios on top for decoration.

13. Put cookies in freezer for 10 mins to set chocolate.

Store cookies in air tight container in refrigerator or freezer.