All hail the chocolate chip cookie! We worship at the altar of Choc chip anything over here. These little drops of happiness just bleed delight into the bleakest of bakes any day of the week.

So how do we police this unrequited love of the cocoa bean? Well besides the obvious “every thing in moderation” (which is ALWAYS a great idea), its also great to make a home baked healthier version. By baking it yourself you know exactly what is in it & you can feel totally smug and Nigella-like on presentation. And remember nothing is messy – its rustic.
I’ve made these beauties with maple syrup rather than sugar, ground almonds (to get another food group into them plus its Gluten free for those who need it to be that way), coconut (who doesn’t want to taste the summer plus coconut is full of fantastic minerals) and love. Lots of love.
The kids devoured them warm and cold – however I didn’t pop any into the lunch boxes. No nuts zone. That’s ok too – I like to leave my bribes at home.

Ingredients:
150g Ground Almonds
70g Chocolate chips
50g Dessicated Coconut
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 egg
40g butter melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C and line a baking tray.
Mix the ground almonds, coconut, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
Mix the vanilla extract & egg in a jug.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix well.
Melt the butter and pour it the bowl and mix.
Add the chocolate chips.
Shape spoonfuls of the mixture into cookie shapes on a lined tin.
Bake until golden for 15 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes – then transfer to a cooling tray.
Enjoy with tea, milk, water….anything you fancy!