Coconut Mango Cookies with Macadamia

It has been a while since I shared a recipe from my Soulistic Kitchen. Now with spring’s first rays of sunshine and winter’s last cold evening breeze breathing life into the glorious time of the in-between, I created cookies that taste like sunshine and soothe the blues or cold of any afternoon. They are perfect for being dipped into a cup of tea and made for a moment with yourself or your loved ones.

Cookies made out of refined flours or sugars lead to blood sugar spikes. When we find ourselves in stressful moments, our fight or flight response pumps more sugar into our blood in order to mobilize our muscles and sustain survival. Hence - yes - refined foods stripped off their nutrients can push your body into a state of stress, simulating a similar response to the fight or flight stress response of our nervous system. To support holistic healing from chronic or traumatic stress, snacks containing healthy fats, protein and whole foods that strengthen your system instead of triggering your system are essential. These cookies, completely made out of whole foods, can do just that. For an extra calming effect, choose oats over buckwheat, as oats are and have traditionally been used in plant medicine as a calming remedy for the nervous system.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups buckwheat flakes (or oats or any flour of choice)

1 tblsp flax seeds, hulled (alternatively, use an egg or chia seeds and 4 tblsp of water instead of 5)

5 tblsp water

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tblsp coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut blossom sugar (or raw cane sugar)

1/4 tsp vanilla, ground

1 pinch of Himalayan salt

1/4 cup macadamia nuts

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, shredded

1/4 cup mango slices, dried

Appliances needed

Food processor

Instructions

1. Mix flax seeds with water and let it sit until it has thickened into a flax egg. Give the buckwheat flakes into your food processor and blend on high until it's evenly ground flour.

2. Add baking powder, coconut oil, coconut blossom sugar, vanilla, coconut and Himalayan salt and let the food processor work on the dough for a moment. Finally, add the macadamia nuts and mango slices to the mix and blend once more. Make sure not to leave the food processor on for too long to prevent the macadamia nuts from becoming too finely chopped.

3. Remove the dough from the food processor and shape it into a ball. Leave it in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celcius. Spread a sheet of parchment paper on a baking tray.

4. Take the dough out of the fridge and form little balls. You can decide on the size you want your cookies to have - mine had a diameter of about 4cm which made 16 cookies - and flatten them softly on the baking tray. Make sure to leave some space in-between the cookies, for they will expand while baking in the oven.

5. Bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes.

6. Let cool. Enjoy!