Sweet Sundays: Alisa Fleming ~ It all started with a cookie swap. The idea was initiated with cookie addict number one, Katie of Making Food and Other Stuff. She roped me in (cookies? Yes, it was a tough sell here), along with another recipe blogger who I wasn’t yet familiar with, Lori of What Runs Lori. We experimented in our kitchen’s preparing first time ever recipes for gluten-free and dairy-free cookies, and shipping them off to one another. We were cookie testing guinea pigs, but the rules were to be honest, and that no hurt feelings would be had.
I already knew that Katie was a cookie whiz, but as it turned out, Lori is quite the baker too, or unbaker as in the case of the recipe below. After tasting nearly a dozen different types of cookies from her kitchen, I decided that this girl would be a friend for life. Yes, when it comes to cookies, I can be pretty shallow. Hey, we all have our weaknesses, right? Fortunately, Lori is truly an amazing person. We recently attended the Fitness & Health Blogger Conference as partners in crime, and had a wonderful time sampling all of the food (yes, almost everything served at that event was dairy-free!).
For those of you who aren’t familiar with her, Lori is a certified personal trainer in California with additional certification in TRX training. She is a big time Cross Fit junkie, and fuels herself with lots of “clean and whole foods.” Like me, she loves cookies, but is good about making them low in sugar and high energy. The no bake, almost raw cookie balls below are a good example of the recipes you will see on What Runs Lori …
No Bake Trail Mix Treats
Lori actually hand delivered a batch of these almost raw energy “cookies” to me for our first blogger meet-up. I loved them so much, that I devoured four as we chatted away. Lori does a fantastic job in balancing sweeteners; the stevia in this recipe doesn’t overpower the other ingredients.
This recipe is Vegan, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Soy-Free (use the chocolate chips I've linked to), Wheat-Free, and Refined Sugar-Free. You can make this recipe Gluten-Free by using certified gluten-free oats, and Nut-Free by using a seed butter such as SunButter.
- 1 Cup Almond Butter (can substitute the nut or seed butter of your choice)
- 1 Cup Unsweetened Dried Coconut Chips or Shredded Coconut
- 1/2 Cup Raisins
- 1/2 Cup Oats
- 1/4 Cup Carob Chips or Chocolate Chips
- 2 Tablespoons Yacon Syrup or Agave Syrup
- 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt
- 25 Drops (approximately) Liquid Stevia, or to taste
- Ground Cinnamon, to taste
Add all ingredients to a large bowl, and stir to mix until the ingredients are well combined. Form the dough into 1-inch balls and chill. They will keep at room temperature but tend to get a bit melty, so it is best to store them in the refrigerator or freezer.
Article and Photos by Alisa Fleming, founder of GoDairyFree.org and author of Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook for Milk Allergies, Lactose Intolerance, and Casein-Free Living. Alisa is also a freelance writer for several publications, with an emphasis on creating recipes for various types of special diets.
