I have a confession. I’m a sugar addict. Not joking. Sugar is by far my biggest weakness and complete downfall. I crave sugar every. single. day, like 99% of the time! It’s ridiculous. The only thing that keeps me from stuffing my face with cookies and ice cream is that I want to be healthy. And the desire and drive to be healthy, outweighs the sugar cravings. I have to fight it every damn day. Self-control, you might think….I wouldn’t say I have an extraordinary amount of self-control. I just know my weakness and keep sweets out of the house. Or forced portion control, like these cookies…. Two Cookies Two Ways. These force self-control.
When I do decide to have a treat, availability and accessibility is key. For instance, when Kris and I want ice cream, we only buy a pint size serving or go out for an ice cream cone. A half gallon of ice cream in my house won’t last a week. If I give into the cookie craving, I only make small batches. Freezing the dough or freezing the extra cookies doesn’t work. I love frozen cookies! And it’s far too easy to bake cookies every night from frozen dough or just to eat the cookie dough frozen.
Over the years, I’ve tried quite a few small batch chocolate chip cookies and single cookie recipes. Most of them have you only use the egg yolk and save the white for another use. Which means that I save the white and then promptly lose it in the back of the fridge. So I decided to use that single egg white to make small batch coconut macaroons. Perfect! I have a recipe to make two chocolate chip cookies and a recipe to make two (or three) coconut macaroons!
And then, because I do still try my very best to stay healthy, I made these cookies paleo, except for the chocolate chips. I didn’t use dairy-free chocolate chips; they are dark chocolate though…. So the macaroons and the chocolate chip cookies do both have coconut sugar, which is consider a “natural” sugar, but, come on, it’s still a sugar…. Just want to make that clear. I’ve found that eating a “healthy” cookie without sugar to satisfy sugar cravings usually just makes me want sugar even more…so I decided to still include a sugar. And I’m okay with that! Hope you enjoy these Two Cookies Two Ways as much as I do!
- For the COCONUT MACAROONS:
- 1 egg white
- 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- For the PALEO CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES:
- 2 tbsp coconut oil melted
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1 tbsp coconut flour
- 3 tbsp dark chocolate chips
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FOR THE COCONUT MACAROONS:
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Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
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Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place coconut on baking sheet and toast for 6 minutes, turning halfway through.
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Whisk egg white until frothy. Mix in coconut sugar, vanilla, and salt. Stir well to combine.
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Stir toasted coconut into egg mixture.
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Line baking sheet with another piece of parchment paper.
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Form coconut egg mixture into 2-4 large mounds and place on parchment paper.
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Bake for 25-30 minutes, turning halfway though.
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FOR THE PALEO CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES:
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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In a medium bowl, mix coconut oil, coconut sugar, sea salt, vanilla, and egg yolk. Stir until the mixture comes together. It might look a little clumpy at first but keep mixing
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Next, add in baking soda, almond flour, and coconut flour.
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Finally, mix in 2 tbsp dark chocolate chips.
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Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Divide the dough into two rounds and place them on the baking sheet.
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Slightly flatten the cookie dough rounds.
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Place the remaining 1 tbsp of chocolate chips on top of the two cookies.
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Bake cookies for 8 minutes, turning halfway though.
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Enjoy!
Inspiration for the coconut macaroons comes from The Kitchn and inspiration for the chocolate chip cookies come from No. 2 Pencil.
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