Deck Your Halls With Bourbon Balls (or Rum Balls) (GAPS, paleo, Primal, dairy free, gluten free)

By Kristen

There is something about food in ball form that pleases everyone, from your lumberjack cousin to your blue-blooded grandmother, everyone will be smiling when they lay eyes on this slightly sinful treat.

Part 1: Coconut Vanilla Cookies (don't worry, you can't taste the coconut once the balls are complete)

Have you ever noticed that honey cookies are always soft? That's because honey is a humectant, which means it both attracts and retains water. However, this dessert desires a dry cookie to start, which is why you have to throw these into the inferno of your oven until they are seconds away from burning.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 cup sifted coconut flour

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/4 cup honey

1 pinch Celtic sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a largish bowl combine the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients. Slowly mix the coconut flour into the liquid ingredients using an electric mixer. The dough will be dryish but will still stick together. These cookies do not need to be pretty my friends, they will soon be decimated into tiny little crumbs, so grab an inch-sized ball and smash it down flat on a well greased cookie sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until they are so dry and brown they are almost burned.

Part 2: The Balls

1 batch coconut vanilla cookies

1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons honey 

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons small batch bourbon or dark rum (rum is not GAPS legal)

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate 

1/8 teaspoon Celtic sea salt

11/2 cup lightly toasted pecans (or walnuts for rum balls) pulsed in your food processor until they are fine little pieces.

Pulse the coconut vanilla cookies in the food processor until they are small crumbs. Melt the chocolate over a double broiler or one you make by putting a metal bowl into water that has just been boiled. stir the honey into the chocolate. Stir the bourbon into the chocolate, one tablespoon at a time. Mix 1/2 the nuts into the cookie crumbs along with the salt. Stir the chocolate into the cookie crumb mixture. Form into balls and roll in the remaining nuts. Let sit in your fridge for a day to allow the flavors to mingle. They really are better with age, but who am I kidding? You are totally eating one right now :) One more thing: you can freeze these and they will keep in the fridge for at least a week.

Chocolate Chips and Chocolate Chip Cookies (GAPS, Paleo, Primal, gluten free, dairy free)

By Kristen

Who, besides a smug few, doesn't revel in the indescribable flavor of chocolate? There is nothing else like it, but unfortunately our modern ways have led us to mixing sugar mountains into our precious cocoa. This recipe uses honey and none of the misplaced coconut oil found in other honey sweetened chocolate recipes.

Ingredients:

8 ounces unsweetened organic chocolate

2 tablespoons honey (or a bit more if you like things on the sweeter side, but no more than 2 1/2 tablespoons)

1/8 teaspoon Celtic sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Do it:

On super low heat melt the chocolate. Be careful, it can burn REALLY easily. If you have it use a double broiler or make one by boiling water in a saucepan and putting a metal bowl on top. When melted remove from heat and stir in honey and salt. Finally, stir in the vanilla. Take foil and pinch up the sides to make a vessel. Spread the chocolate into a flat bar, about 1/4 inch thick, or thinner depending on what size you want your chunks. Allow to cool. Use a sharp knife to cut it into chunks.

Use it:

Chocolate chips cookies using the Bake Me Home Tonight recipe:

1/4 Batch chocolate chunks
1/2 a stick butter (or palm or coconut oil), melted
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon Celtic salt

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the honey. Hint: if you grease your tablespoon the honey slides right out. Remove from heat. In a medium sized bowl mix the dry ingredients. Add the vanilla to the butter mixture. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Drop overflowing tablespoons of batter on to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-12 minutes depending on your altitude and the actual internal temp of your oven, which can vary from what your dial says.