Healthy Gluten-Free Choc Chip Cookies

I love cookies.

But just because I’m working hard to lose weight, it doesn’t mean I want to give-up on all my favourite foods. What I DO want, is to learn how to incorporate them into my new healthier lifestyle and learn to make better choices with better ingredients.

Healthy Gluten-Free Choc Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

(Makes 25)

250g quinoa flour

180g dark brown sugar

150g chocolate chips

160ml organic, virgin coconut oil (runny, but cool)

1 whole medium egg + 1 yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 180°c

Line a baking tray with grease proof paper

In a food mixer, beat together the oil + sugar until smooth

Add the eggs + vanilla and continue to beat until light and creamy

Add the salt and bicarbonate of soda to the quinoa flour and stir well

Slowly add the flour-mix to your mixer (hello flour cloud!) and continue until all incorporated

Lastly, add the chocolate chips and stir through

Next:

Take a tablespoon (or thereabouts) of cookie dough and roll into a 2 inch ball and place on your lined baking sheet.

Leave a couple of inches between each dough ball otherwise they will spread and stick to each other in the oven.

Depending on the warmth of your kitchen, you may find the cookie mix a little too soft and sticky to roll into balls. If so, just pop into the fridge for 5 – 10 minutes to firm up.

Pop your cookie dough into the oven for 8 – 10 minutes (watch carefully!) or until the top and edges begin to turn a light golden brown.

Remove from the oven and carefully slide your sheet of baking paper onto a cooling rack and leave your cookies to firm up and cool down.

Pop the kettle on and enjoy! coffee

Oh these cookies are good. Lightly crunchy on the outside and soft and gooey in the middle. Oh, and heavenly when still warm!

Unlike regular store-bought packets of choc-chip cookies these are not sugary-sweet, but sweet enough to satisfy my crazy sugar cravings. And with all-natural, high quality ingredients (no artificial sweeter, no preservative and no ‘numbers’) you needn’t feel guilty if you indulge in a few.

If you’re following me on my Slimming World journey, you maybe thinking, “c’mon Natalie, just how many syns are in these cookies?!” and the answer is 6.

Yes, this is higher than an average 2.5 / 3 for a small packet cookie, but they are TWICE the size. And whilst this former fat-girl would previously have been quite content munching through half a packet (don’t judge me!) of shop cookies, I just don’t feel the need to with these.

Helps to motivate you

When you join Slimming World, you become a member of a large community of people in a similar situation to you, and receive plenty of advice and guidance on recipes, meal planning and motivation when you need it.

You will also be provided with your own highly qualified advisor, a former member of the club, who will help you set your own weight loss and fitness goals. Members agree that this support is often the key to their success.

You can join a local group or online.

If you want to join a group, contact a local counsellor to find out how your group works safely according to local and national guidelines.

They all offer comprehensive information on how the Slimming World nutrition optimisation programme works.

There’s an extensive list of free foods to choose from that don’t need to be weighed, counted or measured.

You can also snack to satisfy your hunger between meals.

In addition, you are encouraged to consume metered quantities of certain foods known as ‘Healthy Supplements’, which provide the necessary nutrients for a healthy, balanced diet.

These include milk and cheese (for calcium) and whole-grain cereals and bread (for fibre and minerals).

To avoid feeling deprived, you can consume limited amounts of treats that contain more calories and are less filling, such as chocolate, crisps and alcohol.