Paleo Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:
• 1 3/4 cups Just Like Sugar Table Top natural chicory root sweetener, or 5 tablespoons PureLo Lo Han Sweetener by Swanson, or 1 1/4 cups raw honey, or your favorite sweetener.
• 1 1/4 cups medium-shredded unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/4 cup arrowroot powder
• 3 tablespoons pure cacao powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast (optional)
• 3/4 teaspoon unprocessed salt (if your nut butter is unsalted)
Optional for Chai Flavored Cookies:
• 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
Wet Ingredients:
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tart apple, unpeeled, cored and cut into chunks (50 grams)
• 3/4 cup roasted hazelnut butter, smooth or crunchy
• 1 tablespoon filtered water if needed to reach a soft, pliable dough you can roll in your hands

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a dry food processor fitted with the “S” blade, grind the sweetener to a very fine powder.
3. Add the shredded coconut to the sweetener in the food processor. Spin it for a minute until a very fine powder. Open the lid, stir the bottom, replace the lid, and grind again until the powder is uniformly fine.
4. To the ingredients in the food processor, add the arrowroot, baking powder, nutritional yeast (if using), and salt. Add optional cardamom if desired. To the dry ingredients in the food processor, add the eggs, vanilla, apple, and nut butter. Mix well until the dough sticks together well.
5. Remove the container from the processor base, take out the “S” blade, and chill the dough uncovered for 15 to 30 minutes in the processor bowl.
6. Form the dough into 1-inch balls spaced about 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Handle them as little as possible, as the coconut oil will melt from the heat of your hands. Press them with the tines of a fork to create crisscross marks.
7. Bake for 13 for 15 minutes. Do not over-bake or they will be dry, as these do not brown. When they’re done, they’ll still be soft; they will get crispier as they cool. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes.