A Twist on the Famous Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe of "old"

When I was kid, there was one kind of chocolate chip cookie and one kind only.

Sure, you could get fancy, add in a bit of walnuts but it always started with that one main ingredient and this simple go-to recipe . . .

Look familiar?

What follows is a recipe for my favorite new GLUTEN-FREE cookie!

And I gotta tell ya, these really take me back to my childhood and those chocolate chip cookies of my youth.  But with a bit more of an adult, health-concious twist. I say "a bit" because these guys are still cookies after all and may not be for the most avid of health nuts amongst us.
But no animals were harmed and no guts will be wrecked in the making of these.

That having been said if you are in the mood for a sweet treat, by all means . . .

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup of vegan margarine

1/4 cup of unrefined coconut oil

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 vanilla bean (contents scraped)*

Equivalent of 2 eggs in Ener-G egg replacer**

3 cups of almond meal

1/2 tsp. of baking soda

1-2 tbsp of raw hemp seeds

1/4-1/2 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts

1 1/4 c. of semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium sized bowl stir your baking soda into your almond meal and set aside.
Cream the margarine, coconut oil, and sugar together until creamy.
Mix in your "eggs" and vanilla.
Then your almond meal mixture one cup at a time until full incorporated. Stir in your hemp seeds, nuts and chocolate chips.
Spoon onto a parchment covered cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.
Let cool slightly and transfer to a plate.

~I love the soft chewy texture of these cookies.

~The almond meal makes such a healthier, tastier substitute for the usual starchy rice flour combos used in most gluten-free recipes.

~The hemp seed add such a nice buttery flavor besides being so nutritious! Though cooking them at high temperatures may affect the enzymes, the nutritional benefits stay intact. Did you know?

One tablespoon of hemp seeds contains 40 calories, 152 milligrams of potassium, 2.3 grams of carbohydrates, 1.6 grams of fiber and 5.3 grams of protein along with 13 percent your daily need for iron of and about 8 percent of your daily vitamin A. Hemp seeds are high in protein, containing all nine essential amino acids, beneficial essential oils including linoleic acid from the omega-6 family and alpha-linolenic acid from the omega-3 family.  They are heart healthy and also have anti-inflammatory benefits.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!
~Amber

* or 2 tsp. of vanilla extract. I like my cookies nice and vanill-y but if that's not you, simply use the standard 1 tsp. of vanilla extract called for in most recipes.
** 1 1/2 tsp of Ener-G egg replacer powder to 3 tbsp, of warm water makes one egg