Hey look! I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth after all. Just probably convinced many of you that I did with the whole business trip/disappearing act in the name of sports taking place in Las Vegas, Ontario, Miami and Maui. Funny how when you’re young you’d love nothing but to eat out all the time. For a month, all I wanted was to be in my kitchen.

The entire month of November was spent wearing myself out without actually working out, and well let’s just say that I did not nutritionally behave. It’s been an interesting (and wind-sucking) return to working out in the past few weeks. Seeing that I was gone for so long, all I wanted to do when I got home was cook and eat the same old tried and true dishes that I’ve shared before.

ALAS… I return with something I now want to eat the entire batch of. In one sitting, of course. A clever friend of a friend baked rosemary chocolate chip shortbread for a cookie swap last weekend. They were OMG good. After a full day of wrapping gifts and doing more laundry than I thought I owned, the domesticity bug motivated me to bake. I wanted that shortbread again, but I wanted it paleofied.

Thanks to a base recipe by Gluten Free on a Shoestring plus a little jazzing up of my own, I present to you:

Paleo Rosemary Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups Almond Flour
3 tablespoons Coconut Flour
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon dried Rosemary
3/4 cup Coconut Crystals
1/4 cup Coconut Oil, melted and cooled
2 Eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Enjoy Life Mini Chips

• Preheat your oven to 325°F.
• In a mixer, combine all dry ingredients: almond flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda, rosemary and coconut crystals.
• Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the coconut oil, eggs and vanilla, mixing to combine after each addition. Add the chocolate chips (original recipe calls for 6oz chocolate tossed in coconut flour) to the cookie dough, and mix to combine. The dough will be pretty soft.
• On a large piece of parchment paper, shape the dough into a log just like you’d buy from the grocery store when you used to think Pillsbury slice & bake cookies were a good idea. Roll tightly and chill in the freezer for at least 10min to firm up the dough.
• Slice into 16 cookies, which will be approximately 1/2″ thick.
  
• Bake until lightly golden brown all over and set all the way to the center (12 to 14 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet until firm (at least 10 minutes) before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Letting them set for 10 minutes is pretty important, so PAWS OFF for at least that long before you begin your endeavor to polish off the whole tray.

In unrelated news, if anyone can find me a pair of hamburger earmuffs, I’d be most appreciative. Should have impulse bought them the minute I read the best news story of last week.