Quick Chocolate Oatmeal Drops – No Cooking Required

 

My mother used to make chocolate drops when I was a kid that were so scrumptious. I don't have the recipe but I remember watching her melting margarine in a sauce pan, and then adding white sugar, cocoa and oatmeal. After it was combined, she'd scoop spoonfuls on to a piece of wax paper. We'd eagerly wait for them to cool. Sometimes. They were still great when warm.

While I don't have that recipe I came across instant cookie dough in The Happy Herbivore. After I made them I realized they tasted a lot like my mom's chocolate drops. But without all the fat and unrefined sugar.

Quite honestly, you could do a lot with this recipe. Use peanut butter instead of almond. Sub out the cocoa with raw cacao powder. Use some flaked coconut with the oatmeal. All you need is a consistency that will stick together. Taste as you go, if it's not sweet enough add a bit more maple syrup. You get the idea!

Ingredients
1/2 cup quick oatmeal
1 TB almond butter
1-1/2 TB maple syrup
1 TB cocoa

Directions
Mix all ingredients until well combined. Scoop spoonfuls onto wax or parchment paper. Let sit a bit to harden. I like to put them in the refrigerator for about an hour. Makes about 6 chocolate drops. Recipe is easily doubled.

Chocolate Chunk Sandies – Gluten and Dairy Free

I enjoy trolling the gluten-free blogs and websites mainly because the recipes don't use all purpose flour. I prefer to bake and cook with whole grains especially when bowing down to the sugar god. This recipe uses almond flour. The original name of these cookies are World's Best Chocolate Chunk Cookies (Gluten/Grain/Egg/Starch/Sugar Free & Paleo) from the Real Sustenance website. I followed the recipe using coconut date sugar and coconut oil options. I also had on hand a bag of chocolate chunks so I didn't have to break up a chocolate bar. This recipe was very quick to pull together. I am calling them "Sandies" because the texture reminded me of Pecan Sandy cookies, kind of crumbly but still very delicious.

Here is the recipe, which I successfully halved.