A Cookie for Breakfast?

A sweet cookie - a beautiful plate - a strong coffee.

My friend recently reminded me that people will, like it or not, become similar to the five people they spend the most time with. I believe this is true, so I choose wisely. But I also think that we pick up crumbs from people we encounter more briefly along the way and incorporate them into our lives. For instance, years ago I spent just enough time with my daughter’s Oma (Dutch-American Grandmother) to form the opinion that she is a brilliant example of healthy living.  One delicious crumb I picked up from her was the healthy decadence of a cookie for breakfast. WHAAA!?! Did a natural health coach just advise cookies for breakfast? Well, not exactly. Let me explain.

The beauty of Oma’s morning cookie was in how she took it: always only one, always a type of cookie that she loved, always sitting down in mindfulness and always paired with a rich cup of coffee or tea to slow the ritual down a bit. Her thinking was that her cookie breakfast was her daily tasty treat to look forward too…unapologetically, confidently and joyfully. As a self-possessed, sophisticated woman, she decided to eat her dessert first – literally and daily. I was awestruck. She went on from there, each morning, in her methodical way to spend her time at the gym, at work, on the golf course, etc. But she began her day in honor of her sweet tooth.

I personally do not have much of a sweet tooth and never crave sweetness at breakfast. I like my morning meal super salty! But the IDEA is irresistible to me. So I offer this idea to you. There are a variety of superb cookie recipes out there that will grant you a sweet and nutrient-dense morning meal. I encourage you, if you have a mild to moderate morning appetite and enjoy sweetness, to choose one that you love, learn to bake them from scratch, fill a special cookie jar with a fresh batch each Sunday and enjoy the hell out of those babies all week long: ONE at a time, once a day, and with all the fanfare that will signal your body that it is getting a very wonderful treat! This is an important part of self-care. Cookies.

Here’s my favorite cookie these days.  Enjoy!

Healthy Soft-baked Chocolate Chip Cookie

Makes about 12 cookies

INGREDIENTS (Remember: always the wholest, realist, freshest you can get!)

   
8 tablespoons of ghee or coconut oil
3/4 cup sucanat (unprocessed sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1½ cups flour (I like a half and half combo of unbleached bread flour and buckwheat.)
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
¾ cup dark chocolate chips or chunks

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Beat the oil/ghee with the sugar until creamy. Add the vanilla and the egg; beat until just incorporated - (if you beat the egg for too long, the cookies will be stiff).

3. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until crumbles form. Use your hands to press the crumbles together into dough. It should form one large ball that is easy to handle (right at the stage between "wet" dough and "dry" dough).

Add the chocolate chips and incorporate with your hands.

4. Roll the dough into 12 large balls or 24 small ones and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes until the cookies look puffy and dry and just barely golden. DO NOT OVERBAKE. They'll be pale and puffy.

5.  Let them cool on the pan for 30 minutes or so. They will sink down and turn into these dense, buttery, soft cookies. These should stay soft for many days if kept in an airtight container. You can also freeze them.

NOTES

The 2 most important things about this recipe are 1) adding enough flour, and 3) not baking for too long.  If you find that the dough is wet and it REALLY sticks to your hands, you probably need a little more flour. This is important otherwise you'll have flat cookies. I'll usually add a few tablespoons at a time to get it to the right consistency. You should be able to roll the balls of dough between your hands without sticking or falling apart.

Loving the business of helping people make healthy changes by bringing a bit more ease and pleasure into our daily living…please check out my new website at heatherdiamondhealth.com. Happy health!

*Recipe adapted with gratitude from http://pinchofyum.com/the-best-soft-chocolate-chip-cookies.