Paleo Cookie Fail

So I've embarked on 2 days of Paleo so far and my week has been full of laughs. For day one, I had a co-worker bring in very delicious looking cookies that were "yummied" by fellow co-workers in front of me. This was interesting since I had work to do in the break room table. I can definitely say the cookies got a few dirty looks from myself and while tempting, I did resist!

Unfortunately this got my baking itch moving for the day. (For those of you that don't know me, I loveeeee to bake and frequently go on baking sprees that I share with neighbors, friends, family, and coworkers when I go overboard with treats.) This means I was in full baking frenzy mode by the time I got home that night. I searched for the paleo dark chocolate chip recipe in hopes that it would quell my need to bake and satisfy my sweet tooth while I was at it. I came across quite a few different recipes, but unfortunately none of them quite fit the bill for my yet fully stocked Paleo kitchen. (A Paleo kitchen looks similar to a regular kitchen albeit a bit less in the pantry and a much more colorful assortment of fruits and vegetables in the fridge.) I had only coconut flour and it seemed that most of the cookie recipes called for almond flour or an almond flour/coconut flour mix. So embarked on a Paleo baking spree to try out the first recipe while substituting coconut flour for almond flour.

For those of you that haven't tried this, I assure you it does not work nor resemble a cookie after baking. Coconut flour absorbs much more liquid than almond flour and thus I ended up having to triple up on wet ingredients to make it anywhere near moist enough to stick together. After pouring it on a baking sheet (alas no parchment paper or silicone mat) coated in coconut oil and baking.... It resembled a very sad looking pancake with dark specs. It was done all the way through however and being the adventurous gal I am I tried it. It reminded me of a gooey pancake that someone might make as a joke because you can't really bite into it. Not too bad but not too good either.

Back to the mixing bowl.... Recipe #2 called for a little more zest and ingredients such as baking soda and vanilla for flavoring so I decided that I might be able to make due with this one and just doubling up on moist ingredients. Matter of fact, a light bulb in fact went off over my head when I thought that instead of dark chocolate chips I could try adding all natural peanut butter for that extra moisture. After mixing the batter and having it resemble actual cookie batter I thought I might have come across a winner. So I baked them for 6 minutes as the slightly modified and substituted recipe called for. They looked pretty good coming out of the oven if I do say so myself, however the taste was not anywhere near anything I have ever tasted in my life. It had almost no taste (other than that of a somewhat chalky after taste) and you could barely taste the peanut butter. Cookie attempt #2 was also a fail.

I gave up on my baking frenzy and decided it would be best to focus on ideas for breakfast, so I hard boiled some eggs instead. Sometimes the best recipes are the ones that haven't changed in years and the ones that are most flexible in meal time. I definitely didn't discover anything out of this Paleo world good, but I think I found that eggs can be incorporated for breakfast, as a side at lunch, or to top a salad at dinner. Just make sure to indicate that they are hard boiled on the shell so you don't try to crack one for breakfast. I found a great trick is to use a crayon (I have plenty of these around the house compliments of Camryn) or a black sharpie to mark an X on the top of the shell.

Well so long for now and hopefully next time I will bring you some more palate friendly recipes that are Paleo and tummy friendly. PS If you find any other dessert recipes that are Paleo to die for, please let me know!! :)