(gluten-free) breakfast cookies

Friends, we're in the thick of it.  We are in the thick. of. it.  

"In the thick of what?" you might be asking yourself.  In the thick of house decisions?  In the thick of a busy basketball season?  In the thick of a crazy rain-filled winter (um, hello weather, we're trying to build a house here)? 

No.  Well, yes, but no.  We are in the thick of...dun dun dun...big girl bed training.  And it's not pretty.

I'm tired.  Like, for real tired.  The first few nights were like a dream - no issues with her getting out, sleeping until 6ish, everyone happy and well-rested.  I don't know what happened, but some little switch flipped in that girl's head and all of a sudden she thinks "big girl bed" translates to "I get the run of the house and can do whatever the heck I want!  I can get out of my bed as many times as I want!  I can stay up until ten o'clock! I can wake up at 4am and not go back to sleep!  I can cry and kick and yell when my mama tries to rock me to sleep!  I rule the world!"  

She doesn't sleep...but she sure is cute.

 Did I mention I'm tired? Like, for real tired?  

So instead of the original post I had planned to write out all well-rested and level-headed for you here today, I'm going to share a quick little recipe...so I can get some sleep.  (Confession:  It's 9:30 on Wednesday night as I type this, and I just spent an hour and a half getting Annabel to bed.  Also important to note...she woke up at 4:15 this (Wednesday) morning and after I finally got her back to sleep at 5:45, I couldn't sleep.  Crap.)

Sleepy heads.

I had planned to share this recipe at some point anyway so let's go ahead and do it now.  I got a great new cookbook for Christmas called "Wheat Belly" by William Davis, MD.  In it, he has a recipe for an "All-Purpose Baking Mix" that you can have on hand to make other gluten-free baked goods whenever the need (want) arises.  Store this mix in an air-tight container in the fridge and use as needed.  

All-Purpose Baking Mix
Recipe from "Wheat Belly" by William Davis, MD

4 C almond meal/flour
1 C ground golden flaxseeds
1/2 C coconut flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground psyllium seed (optional) 

Whisk all ingredients together and store in the refrigerator. 

Notes:  I didn't add the ground psyllium seed.

I'm not gonna lie, this isn't cheap to make.  A four-cup bag of almond meal/flour from Bob's Red Mill (a pretty popular brand in the natural foods section of most grocery stores) will run you $10, and ground golden flaxseeds and coconut flour will cost about $8 each.  I did find a brand in our local Kroger called "Simple Truth" that cost $7 for the same size bag of almond meal/flour.  I'll definitely be looking for that brand from now on.  But since I have to eat gluten-free, and since a lot of the g-f breads and baked goods out there on the market taste like dirt, I thought I'd at least give this a try and see how it tastes.  In addition to the cookies I'm going to share, I've also made some focaccia bread with this mix this week and it's pretty darn good.  But right now, let's talk cookies.

These tasty and healthy cookies are perfect for a quick weekday breakfast and are even better paired with a nice strong cup of coffee (which I've been drinking an awful lot of lately).  

Breakfast Cookies
recipe from "Wheat Belly" by William Davis, MD

2 C All-Purpose Baking Mix (see recipe above)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
sweetener equal to 1/2 C sugar
1/2 C unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 C chopped walnuts
1/2 C chopped dried apples
1/2 C whole milk plain Greek yogurt
2 TBSP butter, melted
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine baking mix, cinnamon, salt, sweetener, coconut, walnuts, and dried apples in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine yogurt and butter.  Add egg and vanilla and whisk to combine.  Add wet mixture into dry mixture and stir until combined.  With a tablespoon, form balls that are 3 TBSP each and place on baking sheet.  With slightly wet hands, flatten each cookie to 1/2 inch thickness.

Bake for 13 minutes.  Let cool - the cookies will be soft.

Annabel likes eating a cookie for breakfast.

Notes:  I didn't have any cinnamon so I used 1/2 tsp EACH of nutmeg and ground cloves.  This book recommends using alternate sweeteners such as Truvia, but I used plain old sugar but just added a bit less.  The dried apples and coconut add a little sweetness, too, so they turned out good without a full 1/2 cup of sugar.  

We've already eaten our entire first batch of breakfast cookies, so I'll be making more asap.  It's so nice to be able to grab one to eat with my coffee...at 4am.  (UPDATE:  She slept until 5:30 this morning!  Whoo!)  Happy gluten-free baking!

Light at the end of the big girl bed tunnel.  In time.