Sweet, Miss Erin over at TexanErin Baking brought up the fact that I am lacking cookie recipes on this blog. This must be remedied! It’s funny because I’ve actually made quite a few batches of cookies but they somehow they don’t end up in my posts. I do apologize, dear readers, as cookies are critical in a baking repertoire and I do not intend on depriving you 🙂

While I did turn on the oven last week in the heat of the summer, these were worth it! I kept them in the fridge to keep the chocolate hard as I do not have air conditioning and these simply wouldn’t firm up at room temperature. It probably shouldn’t have been a recipe I tried on a 99F day but I was craving cookies and these hit the spot!

These little nutty bites have a slight crunch and are grain-free, easy and delicious! Any chopped dried fruit would be a great substitute for the currants if you prefer – I am thinking dried cherries and/or apricots would be a delightful add-in. The chocolate coating might be optional for some of you, but I thought they added that extra “oomph” to the cookie, though carob chips or white chocolate or a coconut butter coating would be lovely as well.

Chocolate-Dipped Walnut and Currant Cookies

Ingredients

3 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup pecans (or more walnuts)
1/2 cup almond flour (hazelnut flour might work here too)
6 Tbsp coconut palm sugar or other granulated sweetener
1/16 tsp pure stevia extract (or several more tablespoons of sugar)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup currants (or your favorite chopped dried fruit)
2 eggs, whisked
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For dipping: 4 oz of your favorite dark or semisweet chocolate
1/2 tsp coconut oil

Optional: 4 Tbsp powdered xylitol or powdered sugar (I tried to dust my cookies with this and it barely showed up, this is only for looks)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a food processor, pulse the walnuts and pecans until it resembles a meal. Keep pulsing until the mixture sticks together in clumps.
3. Add walnut-pecan “dough” to a medium mixing bowl along with the almond flour, sweetener, cinnamon and salt. Stir to combine.
4. Stir in the whisked egg, currants and vanilla and combine until a dough forms.
5. Divide mixture into 40 round balls. Flatten each dough ball slightly (these cookies will not spread much) and bake for 13-15 minutes until golden on the edges and slightly firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool.
6. Heat chocolate and coconut oil in a double broiler until melted. Dip one side of cooled cookies into chocolate and placed on parchment or wax paper. Sprinkle with powdered xylitol/sugar if desired. Let firm at room temperature or put in refrigerator to harden. Enjoy!

Makes about 40 cookies