Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Macaroons

There’s a great company out there called Hail Merry that makes amazingly delicious gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free treats like macaroons and mini-tarts. And let me tell you, they are wondrous! They’ve inspired me to create my own versions. I took one bite of their strawberry macaroons and knew that I had to learn to make my own, as I didn’t want to leverage the house to buy the quantity I wanted to consume. While Hail Merry’s version is hard to beat, my version gets the cravings taken care of in the comfort of my own, unleveraged home.

COOKIE INGREDIENTS

• 1 bag (1.2 ounces) freeze-dried strawberries
• 5 egg whites
• ⅛ tsp sea salt
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups finely shredded coconut, unsweetened
• 3 TBSP coconut flour, sifted

CHOCOLATE DIP INGREDIENTS

• ¾ cup chopped dark chocolate
• 1 tsp palm shortening

Makes 18 cookies

Serving Day:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. In a food processor, purée half the bag of freeze-dried strawberries until it becomes a fine powder. Be sure to remove any moisture packet from the bag first! (I may have puréed the packet with the strawberries once. Maybe.)
3. Coarsely chop the other half of the strawberries.
4. In a medium-sized bowl, beat the egg whites with the sea salt with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
5. Gently fold the strawberry powder, chopped strawberries, and remaining ingredients into the stiff egg whites just until combined. Don’t mix too vigorously, or you’ll lose the air in the egg whites.
6. Scoop the dough into golf ball-sized balls, and place them on parchment-lined baking sheets.
7. Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes or until the bottoms turn golden brown.
8. Place the baking sheet on a wire rack and let the cookies cool completely.
9. Meanwhile, melt the dark chocolate and shortening in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, stirring until smooth.
10. Dip the bottom of each cooled cookie into the melted chocolate. Place the cookies on a wax paper-lined baking sheet until the chocolate hardens.
11. Store the cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator, or freeze them until needed.

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Chocolate Almond Butter Swirls

When you start eating Paleo, you think that you’ll never bake again, let alone make eye-catching treats because the ingredients, and therefore the doughs, are so different from traditional baking. But after playing with ingredients and dry-to-liquid ratios, you find that you can make plenty of beautiful desserts without wheat flour! These cookies are the perfect example, and a great blend of chocolate and almond butter swirled into a big soft cookie. The kids flip for these!

DRY INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup almond flour
• 2 TBSP coconut flour, sifted
• 1∕3 cup arrowroot starch
• ½ tsp baking soda
• Pinch of sea salt

WET INGREDIENTS

• 2 TBSP pure maple syrup
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup almond butter
• 2 TBSP coconut sugar (dry crystals)
• 2 TBSP coconut oil, melted

ADD-INS

• ½ cup mini chocolate chips
• 2 TBSP cocoa powder
• 2 tsp water

Makes 12 cookies

Serving Day:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. In a small bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot starch, baking soda, and sea salt. Set the bowl aside.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, blend the maple syrup, egg, vanilla extract, almond butter, coconut sugar, and coconut oil with a hand mixer until well combined and the coconut sugar has mostly dissolved.
4. Add the contents of the small bowl to the medium-sized bowl, and mix well.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Divide the dough in half, and place one half in another bowl.
7. Add the cocoa powder and water to one half of the dough, and mix with your hands to incorporate.
8. Shape 1-inch dough balls of both the plain dough and the chocolate dough. Take 1 ball of each, lightly press them together, and roll them in your palms to make them swirl.
9. Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
10. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned. (I take mine out at 10 minutes because I like them a little doughy in the center.)
11. Let the Swirls cool on wire racks.
12. Store the Swirls in an airtight container, or freeze them until ready to eat.

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Almond Shortbread

Shortbread is essentially flour and butter. That’s it! Yet, it’s amazing. Well, I used to think so before going Paleo. Nowadays, I make this version with heart-healthy coconut oil and almond flour, creating an amazingly decadent, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread that rivals the original. If you must have that buttery flavor and can tolerate dairy, you can sub 1/2 cup of softened butter for the coconut oil. You can also change this one with some chopped pecans or other flavors such as orange zest, cocoa powder, or cinnamon. What’s your favorite flavor?

DRY INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup almond flour
• ¼ cup coconut flour, sifted
• 2∕3 cup arrowroot starch
• ½ tsp sea salt
• ¼ cup coconut sugar

WET INGREDIENTS

• ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• ½ tsp pure almond extract
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted

ADD-IN

• ½ cup coarsely chopped raw almonds

Makes 9 cookies

Serving Day:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. In a small bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot starch, and sea salt.
3. In a coffee grinder or food processor, grind the coconut sugar into a powder.
4. In a medium-sized bowl, blend the powdered coconut sugar, maple syrup, and almond extract until combined.
5. Add the contents of the small bowl to the medium-sized bowl, and mix to combine.
6. Slowly add the coconut oil to the mixture, and blend well.
7. Stir in the chopped almonds.
8. Roll the dough between the 2 sheets of parchment paper to ½-inch-thickness.
9. Using a circle cookie cutter, cut out 9 cookie shapes. If needed, remove any excess dough, re-roll it, and cut it out. If the dough is too sticky, dust the parchment paper with some extra arrowroot starch.
10. Peel off the top piece of parchment paper. Place the bottom piece, with the cookies, directly on a baking sheet.
11. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown.
12. Let the shortbread cool completely on a wire rack.
13. Store in an airtight container or freeze until ready to eat.

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Red Curry Steak Fajitas

Don’t let the name of this dish fool you. Red curry doesn’t taste anything like its yellow and green counterparts, so if you tend to shy away from anything called “curry,” you might want to give this one a try! Red curry paste can be very spicy depending on the brand, so experiment a little and find one that suits your taste. I use the Thai Kitchen brand, and I don’t find it spicy (as in hot), but almost smoky in flavor. Feel free to play with the levels of red curry paste and honey to get just the right balance for you!

CONTAINER #1 (SAUCE)

• 1 TBSP red curry paste
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup lime juice
• 1 TBSP honey
• 2 tsp coconut aminos
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ tsp sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

CONTAINER #2

• 2 pounds skirt steak (or your favorite cut), sliced

CONTAINER #3

• 1 red or orange bell pepper, sliced
• ½ yellow onion, sliced

CONTAINER #4

• ¼ cup chopped, fresh cilantro

CONTAINER #5

• 3 TBSP coconut oil

Serves 4
 
Prep Day:

1. In a food processor, blend the sauce ingredients until smooth.
2. Place the sauce in airtight container #1, and refrigerate until needed.
3. Place the steak slices in airtight container #2, and refrigerate until needed.
4. Place the sliced bell pepper and onion in airtight container #3, and refrigerate until needed.
5. Place the cilantro and coconut oil in separate airtight containers (#4 and #5), and refrigerate the cilantro only.

Serving Day:

1. In an electric skillet set to medium heat, heat the coconut oil.
2. Add the bell pepper and onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the steak, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the steak has browned, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the red curry sauce, and stir. Simmer, uncovered, for 1-2 minutes or until the steak is done and the sauce is warm. Serve with a sprinkle of chopped cilantro on top.

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