This is the closest I have been able to come to Toll House chocolate chip cookies and it’s really close! You can eat this as cookie dough or dehydrate or bake it so that it’s easy to take on the road. I like both options!
Most other raw chocolate chip cookies recipes I’ve seen use cashews and oats. Because cashews can have mold, I tend to avoid them. I also don’t like the idea of eating raw oats. And for some of you who are avoiding starches for health reasons, I wanted to make an alternative recipe. I’ve found that the walnut and date combo give a nice hint of the brown sugar/white sugar combo that is used in Tollhouse cookies – but with much better health benefits!
Why Go Raw With This Recipe? A Word About FODMAPS Food Sensitivities
While doing recipe research and experimenting with the final recipe, I realized that I could have gone the Paleo route, using coconut or almond flour. The reason I decided not to is that some people have issues with FODMAPS foods (FODMAP=Fermentable Oligo-Di-Monosaccharides and Polyols and includes fructose, lactose, fructans, galactans and polyols). For people sensitive to FODMAPS, foods like these (the list is longer) can create digestive symptoms: wheat, onions, garlic, honey, dairy, xylitol, erythritol, avocado and even coconut milk and coconut flour. People with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) are thought to be FODMAPS sensitive.
I have found that combining coconut flour with eggs can cause a FODMAPS digestive reaction. Since my goal is to provide many options for people on the path to digestive health, I found that a raw cookie recipe like this can be very gentle on the digestive tract if you are FODMAPS sensitive and don’t have issues with walnuts or dates. FODMAPS is challenging to get your arms around because not all FODMAPS foods cause issues for all people. Some people have issues with one category of food (fructans, for example) — or even just one or two foods (coconut milk and avocados, for example). This is why listening to your body is critical. Keeping a food/symptom/mood journal can help as well. Sometimes symptoms don’t start until hours after you’ve eaten a food. Your body loves you and will give you clues for what works!
Now, on to the recipe…
Preparation Time
- 8 – 12 hours to soak the walnuts, 10 minutes to prepare
Cookie Ingredients
- 3 cups walnuts, soaked overnight
- 3 Tbs. coconut oil
- 1 TBL ghee (or substitute with coconut oil)
- 2 TBL vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup dates – taste after blending and add more if you like it sweeter.
- 1 tsp sea salt
Cookie Directions
- Add walnuts, coconut oil, vanilla and ghee to blender and begin on low speed. You can also use your food processor with the S blade.
- Depending upon your blender or food processor, you may want to add a little water to get things blending smoothly. Start with 2 TBL of water and add more if needed. You likely won’t need more than ¼ cup water. If you have a high speed blender, like a Vitamix, you may only need 1 TBL or less of water.
- Remove to a bowl and allow to chill thoroughly (about 30 minutes). This mixture can get a little stiff in the refrigerator, so you may want to remove for 15 – 30 minutes before serving, unless you want a stiffer consistency.
- If you want to make these into cookies, take a 1 TBL measuring spoon and scoop the dough out onto silicone baking sheets. Flatten into cookie shapes and dehydrate on 115 degrees F for 10 – 18 hours. You want them to still be soft so that you can press the chocolate into them.
- If you want to make cookie dough instead, reserve the dough until the chocolate chips are ready.
Chocolate Chip Ingredients
- ½ cup cacao butter
- ¼ cup raw cacao powder made from freshly ground raw cacao beans (I grind the beans in my Blendtec and it gives the raw cacao a really beautiful flavor. If you don’t have beans on hand, you can use raw cacao powder)
- ¼ cup medjool dates (if you don’t have dates on hand, you can use 1 TBL raw honey)
- Pinch sea salt (about ¼ tsp)
Chocolate Chip Instructions
- In a saucepan, heat the cacao butter on the lowest temperature on your stovetop.
- Put the dates into a food processor with the S-blade or high speed blender and blend up until completely mushy.
- Once the cacao butter is melted, add the raw cacao and dates and mix until blended. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Two options – Chips or Chunks:
- For Chunks: Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Spread the cooled chocolate out flat onto the parchment paper or silicone baking sheet and refrigerate until solid. Break apart into chunks with a knife.
- For Chips: Once the chocolate is warm and semi-solid, put it into a an icing bag and pipe the icing onto your wax paper or silicone baking sheet lined cookie sheet. Put them into the refrigerator to harden.
Assembling the Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Add the chocolate chips or chunks into the cookies by pressing into the cookies while they are still soft.
- For cookie dough, roll into balls of dough and refrigerate until serving.
- For cookies, dehydrate them for 8 hours at 115 degrees F and check to make sure that they are still somewhat soft. You don’t want them to get too dry or else you won’t be able to press the chocolate chips into them. They should be easy to pick up and stay in tact, but still soft. Remove them from the dehydrator, allow them to cool for 10 minutes and press the chocolate chips into the top. You will likely use about 5 – 6 chips for each cookie.
- If you bake in your oven on the lowest temperature, check after 8 -10 minutes to see if the cookies are still soft, while able to stay intact if you remove them from the cookie sheet.
- For dough balls or cookies, store in your refrigerator for 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to a few months.
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