Improved Grain-Free Cookies

I've gone on and on about how good these Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies are, but I have to tell you, I made them even better!

First off, I started using butter instead of coconut oil.  I love coconut oil, but it definitely gives the cookies a distinctive coconut flavor.  If you want chocolate coconut cookies, then by all means, use the coconut oil.  People eating strict Paleo don't eat dairy, so I understand making these cookies dairy-free as well as grain-free.  However, I've never had a problem with dairy, and we love butter in our home.  So butter instead of coconut oil.

Then, I decreased the amount of honey and eventually took out the honey altogether.  The first batch I made were very sweet and very honey-tasting.  So the next batch I made, I halved the honey in the recipe.  Honestly, the chocolate chips add a lot of sweetness to the cookies and you don't need as much sweetener.  But the cookies still tasted a lot like honey.  Not a bad thing, per se, but not exactly what I was looking for.

So a couple of days ago I sweetened the cookies with a bit of maple syrup.  Yum!  The cookies don't taste like maple at all, and I think this is the closest I'm going to get to mimicking real chocolate chip cookies.  Jason agreed, best cookies yet!

Here's my recipe.  I went ahead and doubled the proportions from the original recipe because, frankly, 18 cookies is better than 9.

Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield: around 18 cookies

2 1/2 cups ground almond flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 cup of maple syrup
4 teaspoons of water
1/4 cup of butter
1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips (also try butterscotch chips because butterscotch!)

1. Mix all ingredients into a large bowl.
2. Place on cookie sheet and put in the oven at 325 degrees.
3. Cooking time can vary from 10-15 minutes.  They are done when they start to brown a little on top.