Another thing I have really missed while following the Banting eating plan (Banting is a form of Low Carb, High Fat lifestyle which you can find out more about by clicking here) is cookies. So many of the low card cookie variations are bland, leaving me feeling unsatisfied and still craving a soft cookie! These on the other hand have been a wonderful new addition to the sweet dessert section of my recipe collection. I have had success with two batches of these cookies, and I have enjoyed not just the softer, more crumbly version but also the more crunchy/a little burnt version which resulted when I forgot about them in my oven over night. 

If you've never baked anything Banting/Low Carb before, you need to keep in mind that you aren't baking traditional sweet treats. As you're not using regular wheat flour and processed sugar, what you make isn't going to taste like what you are used to. I've gotten used to the taste of Banting baked goods and have been just happy to be able to eat treats while still maintaining my figure. I just wanted to mention that as some people get all antsy about Banting baked good because they don't taste like the real thing. Of course they don't silly, but they also have none of the carbs that regular baked goods have and they still taste great and will satisfy your cravings! What's not to like?!

Chocolate isn't exactly Banting approved unless you are using dark chocolate (the darker the better so anything over 70% cocoa is best). I only had the Kirkland brand of chocolate chips which I bought from Costco and these are only 51% cocoa. But it's what I had on hand, so depending on how strict you want to be try and find very dark chocolate or omit completely. Again, with cranberries, these aren't actually on the 'allowed' eating list (which you can find here) but blueberries, cherries & strawberries are in small amounts. As I only had cranberries on hand, that's what went into these cookies. So please do feel free to adjust these cookies, adding/taking away any extra yummy things you like. I can imagine these would be really good with chopped up almonds & cherries!

Coconut flour is an incredible dense flour to work with and is very absorbent! Much more than you would think just by looking at it. Because of this, start slowly when adding the coconut flour and judge by your mixture how much you need to add in. I substituted a few things as I didn't have cream of tarter on hand and I think they still came out just fine. I substituted baking powder for both the tarter & baking soda (see measurements below).

Ingredients (makes about 20 cookies)

• 2 fresh ripe large banana, (400 grams)
• 2 large egg
• 4 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil, (slightly warmed for easier mixing. Room temperature)
• 5-6 tbsp coconut flour
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cream of tartar (this is what the original recipe called for but as I didn't have these on hand I substituted 1 tsp Baking Powder for the tarter & baking soda) 
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup of chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup cranberries

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking pan with greaseproof paper or make sure to grease your pan well.
• Using a mixer, combine the banana and the egg. Slowly add the coconut oil (coconut oil must not be hot or it will cook the egg. You just need to the warm the coconut oil slightly warmed enough to mix in smoothly). Add the coconut flour, vanilla, cream of tartar, baking soda (or baking powder) and sea salt. Mix until smooth. Lastly add the chocolate chips & any other things you want to add.
• Using a spoon, drop 1 your desired size balls of batter onto the baking tray leaving space between each cookie. Use the back of the spoon or your fingers to smooth the cookies to a flat cookie shape. The cookies will not naturally flatten, you must do this yourself unless you want to eat balls of cookies
• Bake for 20 - 40 minutes depending on the heat of your oven. I have a very small convection oven which heats up incredible fast and is very hard to gauge the temperature with the temperature controller. I set the timer for 20 minutes and then keep checking on them to make sure they don't burn. Leave in longer for more of a crispier cookie, or take out before they go brown for a softer, more crumbly cookie.

Do you have any low carb cookie recipes that you love to make? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below as I'm always on the look out for new cookie recipes!