Macadamia Lace Cookies

These thin, crispy and buttery cookies are sure to melt in your mouth and satisfy your sweet tooth!!  The toffee like flavor pairs perfectly with the dark chocolate drizzle, but these are delicious without it as well!  These may be one of my new favorites...and they are super easy!

This recipe uses a french technique known as browning butter.  It adds a nutty flavor and almost a caramel or butterscotch flavor in this particular recipe.  It would be a great addition to frosting as well!!

Brown butter is made by cooking butter long enough to turn the milk solids and salt particles brown while cooking out any water present. It has a more complex flavor than melted or clarified butter. Brown butter is traditionally served with fish, but makes for a delicious drizzle for vegetables such as brussels sprout and broccoli!  Maybe a brown butter vegetable dish needs to be on my to do list!!!

Inspired by a Fine Cooking Recipe

Macadamia Lace Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw macadamia nuts, dry toasted and chopped
• 1/2 cup grass-fed butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar (I used Swerve for no sugar option)
• 1 egg, beaten
• couple sprinkles of sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cups dark chocolate (optional)

Instructions

1. Slowly toast the nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until slightly brown. Remove and let cool in a single layer in the refrigerator
2. Place the butter in the skillet and heat over medium heat until browned butter is reach. The butter will boil, bubble and then start to show brown flecks. Remove once it is brown, pour into bowl and let cool for 5 minutes
3. Once the nuts have cooled, place them in a food processor and ground to rough sand consistency.  If they are warm, you will end up with nut butter
4. Place the nuts, sweetener, salt, egg and vanilla in a bowl and mix well. Add the butter and combine
5. Place about a tablespoon full of batter onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. These will double in size so spread them out
6. Bake at 350 for 5-7 minutes or until edges are slightly brown
7. Remove from heat and let them cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then move the parchment to the counter to cool completely
8. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips
9. Pour the chocolate into a small ziploc once it’s cooled a bit
10. Cut a tiny piece off the corner of the bag and squeeze the chocolate to drizzle over the cookies
11. Place in the freezer or refrigerator to set
12. If these are stored in the refrigerator, they may become not as crispy

Happy Holidays!

*I have recently switched all of my skincare and makeup to a company that is free of 1,500 chemicals!!  I am so particular about what goes into my body, I need to be just as picky as to what goes on my body!  Your skin is your largest organ and absorbs chemicals into the bloodstream faster than the gut does!  I am vain when it comes to my skin and was so thrilled to find products that are anti-aging and work!!!  Check out Beautycounter for more info!!  You will love it!!

Spicy Tuna Sashimi Salad

This is for all you sushi lovers...or for those that want t give it a try!!  I am a huge fan of sashimi, salmon being my favorite.  Sashimi is thinly sliced, raw seafood.  Many different kinds of fresh fish and seafood are served raw in Japanese Cuisine. It can be served plain or wrapped up in a sushi roll.  I prefer it plain topped with a slice of avocado and wasabi or drizzles with Avocado Vinaigrette.

I had the hardest time years ago trying to force myself to try sushi, let alone sashimi!  It is now a favorite and staple in my diet every week.  I would only eat this at a quality sushi/Japanese restaurant or from Whole Foods.  You can find sushi grade salmon and tuna sashimi in the seafood section of most Whole Foods.  If it is fresh, it does not taste fishy at all!!!  I actually think cooked salmon tastes more fishy than raw.  Be sure to buy it the day you plan to eat it or close to the day.

If you like to use wasabi with your sushi, you can buy it powdered.  It is typically found in the asian section and all you have to do is add a bit of water to the powder.  This recipe doesn't call for it, but it is something I enjoy along side my avocado and sashimi.

If you haven't tried sashimi, now is the time!!!  So easy to digest and full of good fats!  This salad has so much flavor you probably won't even know it's raw fish!!!

Recipe: Spicy Tuna Sashimi Salad

Servings: 2

Ingredients

• 8 ounces sushi grade tuna, chopped
• 1 large avocado, chopped
• 3 tbsp macadamia nuts, chopped
• 4 green onions, chopped whites and greens
• 1 1/2-2 tsp hot pepper oil
• 1 tsp avocado oil (could use lite olive oil or coconut oil or omit)
• 2-3 tsp Coconut Aminos
• Sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Roast the nuts in a dry skillet over high heat until slightly brown, let cool
2. Combine the tuna, avocado and onions in a bowl
3. Combine the oils and Coconut Aminos in a bowl, pour over the tuna mixture and stir
4. Top with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and the nuts

Enjoy this with homemade Taro Chips, on cucumber slices, on Grain Free Wheat Crackers or simply plain!

Visit Allergy Free Wednesday for additional allergy free recipes!

Kate's Healthy Cupboard - Gluten Free Recipes

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

This cookie combination is one of my favorites!  White chocolate doesn't have the health benefits that dark chocolate has but, it was necessary for this recipe!  In Fact, white chocolate really isn't chocolate.  It contains cocoa butter, a product of the cocoa bean that is also used to produce chocolate. The cocoa butter, which does have a faint chocolate flavor is combined with milk, sugar and often other flavoring ingredients such as vanilla in order to create white chocolate.  With that said, white chocolate contains far more sugar and dairy than dark chocolate.  The darker you get, the less dairy and sugar content the chocolate will have.

Macadamia nuts are one of my favorite nuts for taste and health benefits.  Most nuts are typically higher in omega 6 fats, macadamia nuts being one of the lowest.  Most of us get too many 6's and that is a pro-inflammatory fat when it is out of balance with omega 3's.  Omega 3's are your anti-inflammatory fat that is typically low in the typical diet.  Macadamia nuts have had a bad reputation for a long time, mostly because they are high in fat. However, between 78 to 86 percent of the fat is monounsaturated, the good for you, heart-healthy kind of fat.  In addition, macadamia nuts are one of the only food sources that contain palmitoleic acid (a type of monounsaturated fatty acid that may speed up fat metabolism, thus reducing the body’s ability to store fat).

So the white chocolate may be higher in sugar, but at least the nuts in this recipe are one of the best nuts for you!

This recipe was adapted from cookie recipes from Elana's Pantry

Recipe: White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups almond flour*
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup vegan organic palm oil shortening
• 1/4 cup honey*
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup toasted macadamia nuts
• 2/3 cup white chocolate chips or chunks
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Instructions

1. Place the nuts in a dry skillet over medium high heat and lightly toast, let cool
2. Add the shortening, honey and vanilla to a bowl and cream with a hand held mixer
3. In another bowl, combine the flour, soda and salt
4. Combine the two bowls together and mix well
5. Fold in the chips and nuts until well combined
6. Using a cookie scoop, place cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet
7. Use your palm and flatten the cookies out
8. Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes

Quick notes

*I used Bob's to see if it would work and it did. I know that Honeyville will absorb a bit more of the shortening and possibly work even better.

*This can be made with less sugar using Nature's Hollow Honey made with Xylitol.  I did that and it tasted great!

Makes about 18 cookies depending on the size.

I recently decided to freeze these, so delicious right out of the freezer!

Typing this recipe makes me want to make more of these since they disappeared so fast!!!

Kate's Healthy Cupboard - Gluten Free Recipes

Chocolate Coconut Macadamia Nut Bark

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and that means lots of chocolate will be consumed.  I am working on numerous chocolatey treats for the month of February.  Here is a simple pleasure to get us all in the mood!  My Chocolate Cherry Bites recipe is another easy way to get your chocolate fix. I have grown to love dark chocolate, especially when there's nuts involved!  Chocolate Bark is such an easy way to fancy up some nuts and chocolate.  This could also be poured into mini muffin trays or any other mold.

Recipe: Chocolate Coconut Macadamia Nut Bark

Ingredients

• 1 cup dark chocolate chips or broken chocolate bar
• 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
• 1/4-1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut or coconut chips
• 1/4-1/2 cup Swerve, honey or sweetener of choice (optional)

Instructions

1. Place a glass mixing bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and add chocolate and oil
2. Once everything has melted, remove from heat and add in the nuts, coconut and sweetener
3. Mix well and pour onto a parchment lined cookie sheet
4. Place in the freezer to set. Once it has hardened, break into pieces

Quick notes

If you are using a dry sugar to sweeten, I would "powder" it in a coffee grinder or blender or it will be gritty

Variations

You could use almonds instead of macadamia nuts.

Store the bark in the freezer so it stays hard.  Let us know what other combos you try!

If you want to try Swerve or need to order more, use coupon code KATE10 for a 10% discount.  Swerve is my favorite sugar replacement.  It is the only sugar alcohol that will not cause tummy troubles and it does not raise blood glucose levels.

If you are an Amazon shopper, would you be so kind to use my affiliate link to make your purchases.  It is at no cost to you, it does provide a tiny kickback to Kate’s Healthy Cupboard.  This allows me to continue making and testing recipes for free.  Thanks so much!!

*I have recently switched all of my skincare and makeup to a company that is free of 1,500 chemicals!!  I am so particular about what goes into my body, I need to be just as picky as to what goes on my body!  Your skin is your largest organ and absorbs chemicals into the bloodstream faster than the gut does!  I am vain when it comes to my skin and was so thrilled to find products that are anti-aging and work!!!  Check out BeautyCounter for more info!!  You will love it!!

Kate's Healthy Cupboard - Gluten Free Recipes