Salty Coconut Cookies/ "Granola" Yogurt Mix-In

Think back to when you were a kid and your mom is trying to get you to eat yogurt. Gross, right? The only way my six-year-old-self is eating yogurt is if it is practically glowing from food coloring and corn syrup like Trix Yogurt or if it's loaded with candy disguised as granola and "mix-ins." Ahh, yes those glorious YoCrunch cups were more like an un-frozen ice cream parfait than a healthy, beneficial-bacteria rich snack. Up until I started SCD I really was not fond of yogurt, nothing about it was that appealing to me. But now I view yogurt as a staple in my diet. I know how good it is for me, and arguably I think that my homemade yogurt is the best in the world (eat this Okios!). In fact, yogurt for me is dessert. It's thick (once dripped), creamy, and with a hint of honey provides the perfect level of sweetness.

Since I no longer eat fruit in combination with anything, including yogurt, though, I am left with little variance in this treat. I am okay with this, adding honey and occasionally vanilla extract is good enough, but sometimes mistakes in the kitchen turn into tummy-pleasing success.





 That is what happened to me when I was attempting to make some sort of coconut flake cookies. I got all the way to the part where i add 1/2 tsp of salt and of course, I open the wrong end of the salt shaker (the half with the little picture of the spoon even though no spoon would fit in that hole) and in dumped a literal mount of Celtic sea salt. I tried to scoop out all of the excess but there was no saving it completely. So I proceeded with baking and then tasting. I am positive the cookies would have turned out delicious but the overwhelming salt flavor was drowning out any other flavor present. There was no way I was wasting so much cookie dough, mind the fact that almond flour and coconut flour are $7/lb and honey is through the roof as well. So I proceeded to finish the baking process and put my over salted cookies in the freezer as I always store my SCD cookies. Then one evening as I was preparing my yogurt snack the idea of granola came to my mind, yes those YoCrunches really left an impression. Thinking on my feet, I crumbled up one of the too-salty cookies, and wait for it....AMAZING! The salt flavor does not come through at all mixed in with the bitter yogurt and in fact the buttery-ness of the cookies only adds to the extreme creamyness of the yogurt. Alas, there is a way to improve on something that is already great. So here I will post the recipe of the "cookies" I made and then you can decide if you want to make them as just that, or if you add just a bit more salt and mix it in with your yogurt. May I suggest the latter.

Salty Coconut Cookies/ "Granola" Mix-In

4 Tbsp butter, softened
1/4 cup coconut flour
3/4 cup almond flour
3 eggs
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 Tbsp cinnoman
1 tsp baking soda
Salt (dash or dump)

You could also add some chopped nuts (Brazil, walnuts, almonds, etc.) if you prefer more of a crunch.

Mix all the above ingredients, bake at 350 degrees for about 11 minutes.