Coconut Cookies

Every year I try a new cookie recipe during my Christmas baking spree. This year I'm extra excited about baking because I'll have a special visitor in town to help. My friend (and co-creator of my nutrition class instruction) moved to CA this year, and she'll be back for a Christmas visit. Hope she likes coconut! Food with Kid Appeal's guest recipe posts continue with this inspiring real food conversion story from Lisa, who blogs at Nurtured Family Life.

My name is Lisa and I am a mom of 5 on a mission to get my kids to eat healthier. We've gone from shopping at Aldi and buying all the sugary cereals to Whole Foods and kefir smoothies. I love to make things from scratch using real food ingredients. My recipes are usually simple and have been "kid approved" by my picky eaters.

I have always been interested in nutrition and weight loss, but it wasn't until I looked to some bodybuilder friends for advice did I learn about how all the processed "diet" foods I was eating was sabotaging my weight loss efforts and my health in general. I changed my eating habits and started exercising smarter. The weight dropped off and I now have a body I can be proud of.

I made healthier lifestyle changes for myself, but didn't extend those same choices to my family. While I ate baked salmon and green beans drizzled with a little olive oil, they ate things like potato chips, frozen fish sticks, and fast food.

I noticed my kids were sick a lot and they seemed like they were just not happy. I wondered if maybe the foods I was giving them was behind the frequent illnesses and bad attitudes and decided it was time to clean up their diets. Since then they are healthier and happier. Occasionally they have treats or their grandparent take them for fast food, but in general they eat real foods from scratch.

My blog, Nurtured Family Life, is about our family's journey to a healthier life: the triumphs, struggles, and failures. It has lots of great, healthy, family friendly recipes and weight loss tips for moms.

Because I have a little one with gluten and dairy allergies, I am constantly on the lookout for treats he can enjoy along side his brothers and sister. I was glad I stumbled upon a recipe for coconut cookies at cavemanstrong.com. I adapted the recipe a little to suit my family's taste.

These are great to keep on hand when I don't feel like fixing a snack or to tide the babies over while I make dinner. The original recipe calls for chocolate chips. I omitted these because chocolate chip cookies equal messy faces and little hands, which in turn touch anything and everything in the house. I think these would also be delicious with added dried fruit and nuts.

Coconut Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup coconut flour
3/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup honey
6 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 300 . Combine oil, honey, eggs, and vanilla. Add shredded coconut and coconut flour. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Make golf ball size balls and then flatten with hands. I wet my hands before forming the cookies to keep the batter from sticking. The dough will not spread out so however flat you make them is how they will turn out. Bake for 20-30 mins or until lightly browned.

What are YOU cooking?
Please share your recipes with kid appeal with us! We are all eager to hear what fare your kids are gobbling up. Stay tuned for butternut squash pizza and green goulash. Can't wait to share those recipes with you. For recipe, bio, and photo submission requirements, see this post.