PALEO CHOCOLATE CHIP GINGERBREAD SKILLET COOKIE

I almost gave up on this gingerbread skillet cookie. You see, I had my heart set on this skillet cookie being nut free, in addition to paleo.

I figured that I could base the recipe on my coconut flour chocolate chip cookies, and we’d all ride off into the sunset baking the most delicious, fudgy, gooey, nut-free gingerbread skillet cookie in the history of all skillet cookies.

But, um, no. Instead, I baked 3 nut free skillet cookies that just didn’t make the cut. Were they all terrible? The first one was, that’s certain. But even though the third wasn’t exactly terrible it also wasn’t worth it, in my opinion. And when we’re using high quality (pricey!) ingredients, it should be WORTH IT! I don’t like handing out mediocre recipes if I can do better.

Enter almond butter – and we did better! The good news for those of you who need to be nut free though, is that sunflower seed butter can be used here as well to get the same texture.

Beware of sunflower seed butter turning the inside green after baking/cooling though – it’s a chemical reaction with the baking soda – and it’s totally safe – just weird looking.

For the rest of us nut-butter consumers, a big THANK YOU to almond butter for allowing this skillet cookie to happen, and saving my sanity for the week!

Ingredients

1 egg plus 1 egg-yolk room temp
1/3 cup organic coconut sugar
1/4 cup organic molasses
2/3 cup smooth almond butter the creamier, the better
2 Tbsp organic coconut oil soft but solid, refined for no coconut flavor
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
7 Tbsp coconut flour
3 Tbsp tapioca flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon*
1 tsp ginger*
1/4 tsp allspice*
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9-10" cast iron skillet, or 2 6" skillets with coconut oil.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, combine the egg and egg yolk, coconut sugar and molasses until smooth. Add in the almond butter, coconut oil and vanilla and continue to mix until smooth.
In a separate bowl, combine the coconut flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Add the dry mixture to the wet until a thick, sticky dough forms, then stir in the chocolate chips, leaving a small handful to sprinkle over the top before baking.
Spread the dough evenly in the skillet(s), smoothing the top, then sprinkle remaining chocolate chips over the top.
Bake in the preheated oven until sides puff up and middle is just set, 12-14 minutes for 2 small skillets and 15-17 for one large, do not overbake, watch for signs that they’re done!
Serve warm with coconut vanilla ice cream and salted caramel sauce, if desired. Enjoy!