Allergy friendly Carrot Cake Cookies

When Lady Lalo and I are out and about in playgrounds and activity centres, I always try and pack a couple of healthy treats in her lunchbox. Such as biscuits, muffins, bliss balls etc, I don't offer them to my little lady unless she asks first or as a last resort if she is being fussy with her lunch or morning tea that I have packed her. Having these 'treat' foods on hand also makes me feel a little more at ease when we are around other children who are snacking on foods that she either cannot eat or I prefer she does not eat. 

Most of the time she cannot tell the difference between my healthy treats and the sugar filled ones, other than the packaging, so I try and wrap mine up for her with a little extra fanciness to make them more appealing. Stickers on a zip lock bag, a reusable yoghurt pouch or a container with her favourite TV character on it will usually do the trick. 

The Challenge I find with these 'treat' foods is that most of the Paleo and/or Gluten Free recipes that I have found usually contain either almond meal, or another type of nut meal. This always worries me when we are around other children as I would never forgive myself if our food came into contact with a child with allergies. So I am always playing around with different nut free muffin, cookie and bread recipes to keep a stash in the freezer for my little lady's snackbox.

Yesterday morning Lady Lalo and I went to see a kids live music show, she loved it and spent the majority of the show dancing. After the concert, I had a meeting with our Daycare centre to discuss my little lady's dietary requirements in more detail (we had a very successful meeting and my mind and heart is now at ease knowing that they are on the same page as we are with Savanna's diet). On the way over to the daycare centre she fell asleep in the car, I put her down in her bed at daycare whilst I had my meeting. She was so tired and out of it after the concert, her carers suggested that she stay for the afternoon to play with her friends and for me to go home and take the afternoon off (between my part time work and full time mummy role, and this blog.. I hardly EVER get any 'alone time'). I took their advice and left Lady Lalo to sleep peacefully and play with her friends for the afternoon. 

When I arrived home to a quiet house, I remembered that I had used the very last of the allergy friendly treats I had in the freezer for my little lady. So it seemed like the perfect time to get creative in the kitchen. 

I originally had intended on making Carrot Cake muffins with this recipe, however when I felt the texture of the mixture after it went through the food processor I immediately knew that cookies would work much better. These little cookie cakes are completely Nut Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free and Grain Free.

These are not a hard crunchy biscuit, the name really does sum them up. They taste like Carrot Cake and have the same soft and fluffy texture but in a mess free little cookie that fits perfectly in a busy toddlers little hand. 

I had these ready for my baby girl as soon as she arrived home yesterday afternoon and she swiped 3 off the bench top before I could even snap a photo. They are a hit!! and a healthy one too, which is always a bonus :)

 Ingredients:

• 3 small Carrots (Grated - I used the grating attachment on my food processor)
• 2 Apples (Peeled, Cored and Grated as above)
• 1/2 Cup Dessicated Coconut
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp grated fresh Ginger (or if you only have powdered that should work too)
• 4 Chia Eggs (Chia Eggs are a wonderful replacement to eggs in a recipe. All you have to do is make a Chia meal out of 4 Tablespoons of Chia Seeds. I used a spice grinder to do this, you could also use a food processor or mortar and pestle. Place the Chia Meal in a small bowl with 12 tablespoons of Water. The general rule is 3 tablespoons of water for 1 tablespoon of Chia Seeds. The Chia meal with absorb the water and create a thick gooey sludgy consistency, this is your chia egg.)
• 1/2 cup chopped Medjool Dates
• 3/4 cup Coconut Flour
• 2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Himalayan Salt
• 2 tbsp Sunflower Seeds
• 2 tbsp Raw Honey
• 1/2 Cup Melted Coconut Oil
• 1 tsp Organic Vanilla Paste or Extract

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray with baking paper
• Grate the Carrots and Apples through your food processor with the grating attachment on or grate by hand.
• Make your Chia Egg and Set aside
• Add all ingredients in to the food processor except the Coconut oil, sunflower seeds and dates.
• After all ingredients are combined, add in the last 3 items and give the mixture a quick process again to combine these ingredients and break down the seeds a little (I prefer a bit of crunch from the seeds through the cookies so I left them quite chunky). The reason I leave the oil until last is because when it comes into contact with the cold apples and carrot it starts to solidify and creates chunks through the mixture. A quick mix through right at the end doesn't give it enough time to do this so you can move quick and start rolling the mixture into balls.
• Once all combined, with your hands roll the mixture into small balls (don't spend too much time on this, they can be rough)
• Place the balls on your baking tray as you go and flatten them with the back of a fork. 
• Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until brown
• They will still be soft and delicate when you remove them from the oven, leave them to cool completely so they can harden and form properly before consuming. 

Enjoy with a warm cup of Spiced Chai, Turmeric Milk or a delicious Raw Cacao and Almond milk 'hot chocolate' for the kiddies. YUM!

I'd love your feedback, if you try these delicious little cookie cakes leave a comment below.

Love & Gratitude

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