part0072

This is the closest Heather has been able to come to Toll House cookies–and it’s really close! You can eat this as cookie dough, or dehydrate or bake it so that it’s easy to take on the road. We like both options, but we love the cookie-dough version best!

Most other raw chocolate-chip cookie recipes tend to use cashews and oats. Because cashews can have mold, we often avoid them. And for those of you who are avoiding starches for health reasons, we wanted to offer an alternative recipe without the oats. The walnut-and-date combo has a nice hint of the taste from the brown sugar/white sugar combo used in Toll House cookies–but with much better health benefits!

Note that you may want to start soaking walnuts the night before you want to make these cookies (soak for 8–12 hours and see instructions at the beginning of this chapter). The recipe itself takes about 5 minutes to prepare once the nuts are soaked.

Add walnuts, coconut oil, vanilla, and ghee to blender and begin on low speed. You can also use your food processor with the S-blade. Depending upon your blender or food processor, you may want to add a little water to get things blending smoothly: Start with 2 Tbsp. and add more if needed; you likely won’t need more than ¼ cup. If you have a high-speed blender, like a Vitamix, you may only need 1 Tbsp. or less of water.

Remove to a bowl and allow to chill thoroughly (about 30 minutes). This mixture can get a little stiff in the refrigerator, so you may want to remove for 15–30 minutes before serving, unless you want a stiffer consistency.

If you want to make these into cookies, take a 1 Tbsp. measuring spoon and scoop the dough out onto silicone baking sheets. Flatten into cookie shapes and dehydrate on 115° F for about 8 hours. You want them to still be soft so that you can press the chocolate into them (see below).

If you want to make cookie dough instead, reserve the dough until the chocolate chips are ready .

¼ cup raw cacao powder made from freshly ground raw cacao beans (we grind the beans in a Blendtec blender, and it gives the raw cacao a really beautiful flavor–if you don’t have beans on hand, you can use raw cacao powder)

Put the dates into a food processor with the S-blade or high-speed blender and blend until completely mushy.

Once the cacao butter is melted, add the raw cacao and dates and mix until blended. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Two options–chips or chunks:

— For chunks: Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Spread the cooled chocolate out flat onto the parchment paper or silicone baking sheet and refrigerate until solid. Break apart into chunks with a knife.

— For chips: Once the chocolate is warm and semisolid, put it into an icing bag and pipe the icing onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper or a silicone baking sheet. Put them into the refrigerator to harden.

Add the chocolate chips or chunks by pressing into the cookies while they’re still soft.

For cookie dough, roll into balls of dough and refrigerate until serving.

For cookies, dehydrate them for 8 hours at 115° F and check to make sure that they’re still somewhat soft. You don’t want them to get too dry, or else you won’t be able to press the chocolate chips into them. They should be easy to pick up and stay intact, but still soft. Remove them from the dehydrator, allow them to cool for 10 minutes, and press the chocolate chips into the top. You’ll likely use about 5–6 chips for each cookie.

If you bake in your oven on the lowest temperature, check after 8–10 minutes to see if the cookies are still soft, while able to stay intact if you remove them from the cookie sheet.

For dough balls or cookies, store in your refrigerator for 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to a few months.