I don’t eat many cookies, but when I do, I’m looking for high fat, low sugar snacks that pack well for long days in the mountains.

I’ve been hiking 14ers a lot on the weekends this summer and keeping a batch of these coconut walnut cookies in the freezer has been key to getting me out the door quickly with healthy fuel in tow. I throw a few of these in my food bag, along with some nuts, and I’m out the door. I like knowing that I have a clean, home-made snack that’s going to fuel me for the day. No more processed, sugary, chewy bars.

These cookies can be whipped up in about 30 minutes, including bake time, and they are gluten free and dairy free. The high fat content keeps me satiated on long hikes.

They are definitely less sweet than your average cookie, having just a hint of sweetness from the honey. In addition to the high fat content, the cinnamon also adds a blood sugar balancing effect. The sea salt on top replaces minerals lost through sweat and, well, it just tastes delicious. I like to have big chunks of walnuts in mine, but you could grind the walnuts to a finer consistency. Alternatively, you could substitute other nuts or seeds there.

I believe I found the original version of these on a keto forum and then adjusted it to suit my needs. If anyone knows the original source, please feel free to comment below.

Coconut Walnut Cookies

1/3 cup hemp seeds

1/2 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened

3 large eggs

1/2 cup coconut flour (or almond flour)

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (or ghee or grass-fed butter)

2 teaspoons cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice mix)

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted, chopped

1/8 teaspoon himalayan salt

1/8 cup honey

Mix all ingredients together in mixing bowl. Portion 1-2 Tablespoon size balls onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Top with coarse sea salt.

Bake at 325*F for 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden brown.

This recipe was another experiment in making a slightly healthier version of an old staple. It contains sugar, so it’s still meant to be a treat, but with the added fiber from the extra dose of oats, and the healthy Omega-3 fatty acids from chia seeds, this version of the classic oatmeal chocolate cookie at least has a few redeeming qualities.

The chia seeds are ground (I used a coffee grinder) to increase the surface area. This makes them more bio-available to the body, and once moisture is added to the dough, forms a gel to hold the cookies together since they lack gluten.

If you look back at my Hemp Cocoa cookies, my goal when creating gluten free cookies is to not use other grain mixes, and to come up with a version that tastes as good or better than the original, has a better nutrition profile, and just happens to be gluten free.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chia Cookies (gluten free)

10 ounces butter

5 ounces cane sugar

5 ounces brown sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

10 ounces instant oats, toasted

12 ounces ground oats

2 ounces ground chia

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

10 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips

Cream together butter and sugars. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Combine dries in a bowl and add to wets. Mix until well combined. Mix in chocolate chips. Allow dough to sit for 10 minutes before scooping with 2 ounce scoop. This allows time for the chia to become mucilaginous and holds the dough together better. Flatten cookies into discs before baking. Bake 10 minutes at 325*F.

Enjoy!

Tag: cookies