At this point, we’re all aware of the dreaded COVID-15. That’s code for the fifteen pounds since we’ve put on since shelter-in-place. Between freshly baked loaves of bread we’ve all seen on Facebook, to the gourmet meals being made at home, it was bound to happen.
Stress Leads to Comfort Eating
It turns out, that during times of stress we crave comfort foods, according to UTPhysician Monique Dorsey, a registered dietician. She says, “In an attempt to maintain its balance, the body may react by producing a physiological response, such as irregular eating behavior, including increasing caloric intake.”
By definition, comfort foods provide psychological comfort, and there’s no better example than the all-American chocolate chip cookie. For most people, comfort foods, are more often sweet, rather than savory or salty. For this sweet-tooth recipe, we decided to take one of our most popular HelloMD DIY recipes, the chocolate chip cannabis-infused cookie, and make it a lot healthier.
A Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookie Alternative
These cookies are pure sweetness—without all the sugar. We swapped out the usual brown and white refined sugars in favor of Swerve, a zero-calorie substitute. Swerve is made from erythritol and oligosaccharides, so it doesn’t have an artificial taste. And it measures, browns, and carmelizes just like refined white sugar.
We also used Endangered Species Bold + Silky Dark Chocolate with 72% cocoa to lower the sugar content. You can go even lower with darker chocolate or sugar-free chocolate chips.
Add antioxidant, nutrient-rich hazelnuts and oats, and you have the perfect cookie for health-nuts and sweet-tooths alike.
Before You Pull Out Your Cookie Ingredients, Make Cannabutter
The best way to make baked goods with marijuana is by infusing it in butter. We have two methods for doing this in our simple DIY recipe along with tips for making cannabutter like a pro.
Gather Up Your Healthy Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup cannabutter see the HelloMD recipe
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
- 1/3 cup Swerve sweetener or coconut sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 bar (1.5 oz.) dark chocolate bar of your choice, chopped
Put On Your Baker’s Hat
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Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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In a large bowl or stand-mixer bowl, beat together the egg, vanilla and cannabutter until well blended. Mix in the almond flour, salt, Swerve sweetener and baking soda until smooth. Mix in (on a low setting if using a stand mixer) the hazelnuts, oats and chocolate chips, working the dough a bit to get everything distributed evenly.
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Scoop the dough into rounded teaspoonfuls and drop them onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the edges turn golden brown.
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Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Photo by Food Photographer | Jennifer Pallian on Unsplash
