Recipe: Grain-Free Vegan Carob Cookies with Date Caramel Icing

Those of you following me on Instagram may have heard about the month-long, infection-busting protocol my son and I are in the midst of completing. In addition to taking heavy doses of herbal supplements (like maitake mushrooms, olive leaf extract, and many more), we're on a very limited diet in an effort to avoid as much unnecessary inflammation as possible. Cooking becomes a bit challenging without grains (with the exception of rice), dairy, nightshades, nuts, coconut, soy, legumes, chocolate, coffee, eggs, ferments and sweeteners (including maple syrup and honey).

Enter these chocolate caramel cookies... er, carob date "cookies". Full disclosure: While I think these cookies are awesome, these aren't really a substitute for a dark, gooey chocolate brownie with creamy caramel sauce. They are, however, a great compromise for those of us with a chocolate tooth and an unfortunate restriction from said delicious, addictive treat. And, this recipe passed the teenager test. Hallelujah!
 

GRAIN-FREE VEGAN CAROB COOKIES WITH DATE CARAMEL ICING

*adapted from Amanda's recipe found at heartbeet kitchen

BREAD:
140 grams (1 cup) Otto’s cassava flour
60 grams (1/2 cup) tapioca starch
52 carob powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup hemp milk
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup palm shortening
1/4 + 1T cup monk fruit
1 flax egg (1T flax meal + 2.5T water refrigerated 5-10 min)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix together cassava flour, tapioca starch, carob powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and monk fruit.
3. In another bowl, mix together hemp milk, apple cider vinegar and avocado oil.
4. Using a hand held or stand mixer, add the wet ingredients to the dry until smooth. Batter will be very thick!
5. Scoop 1/4 cup cookie circles on the pan and use the back of a fork to create crosshatch imprints.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool about 10 minutes.

DATE CARAMEL SPREAD:
1 cup of soft & pitted medjool dates (110 grams, if your yours are hard, soak for 20 minutes in hot water, then drain and use)
1 cup of hemp milk
pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 35 minutes, using spatula to smoosh dates down. They will break and melt into the hemp milk as they cool. Then add salt and puree with an immersion blender or food processor. Let cool, and it will thicken even more. 

*I like to store the cookies and icing separately in the freezer for long-term storage. I pop a cookie in a 350˚ toaster/oven for a few minutes and then frost as I go. The icing takes only a minute to thaw enough to easily spread.