Gluten & Dairy Free Peppermint Chocolate Crownies

Lately I have been a very chocolately mood.  This means a lot coming from a girl who can take it or leave it where chocolate is concerned.  I was looking for an after school snack for my kids who were scheduled to have a play date.  I was a little tired of the granola bar scene and wanted something a bit surprising. So I stumbled upon a recipe from the Gluten Free Goddess that gave me some inspiration.

Some notes:
I make my own gluten free flours but have been known to obsess over Astoria Mills a little.  The recipe that gave me the inspiration doesn't use a flour mix so you can have a look at what she does if you need  to.

I use a pure extract that is very concentrated.  I find mine in the Bulk Barn where I live.

When you make these for your children they will want to inhale the whole batch (if you don't do it before they do).  I suggest you freeze some for later.

Crownies: Cookies that were brownies in a former life.

Makes almost 2 dozen depending on size.

Preheat oven to 365.

1 1/2 cups of gluten free flour mix
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
3/4 teaspoon of sea salt
3/4 cup of cocoa powder
1 cup coconut palm sugar
1/4 heaping cup white sugar

3/4 cup coconut oil (not melted)
2 teaspoons of honey
2 eggs
1/2 cup of coconut milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
couple drops of mint extract

Mix dry ingredients until combined.  Whisk the wet ingredients.  Its okay if there are little bits of coconut oil left after whisking.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.  Mix until it is properly incorporated.

Spoon a tablespoon of batter onto cookie sheet leaving 1 1/2 inches in between cookies.  Bake for 10-13 minutes or until cookies are firm and soft but no longer wet.

Waiting for the Light to Change

The red light. I waited anxiously for it to change. The list of errands for children, myself, and who ever else happened to squeeze in my life hung from the rear view mirror in front of me.

Something new caught my eye. Something I had seen thousands of times before. Yellow streams of fluttering leaves made a beautiful entrance beyond the lights. I was caught up in the wonder and beauty of this ordinary, common and frequent visitor. My attention soaked in the world that metamorphosized all around me. This beauty was all around me and I have been missing it all together - waiting for the light to change.

My life could be summed up in that simple act of waiting for the light to change. The lists of what I had to accomplish or had to become always hung in the rare view mirror of my mind. My life was either about what I had lost or what I was going to create. Moments would slip away unnoticed and discarded. They were uncomfortable to me because I was neither what I once was or what I was going to be. I saw my forward facing stance as ambition, determination, and perseverance. My backward glances I saw as reminders of what I was made of. This mental shuffling left little for the moments in between. I was uncomfortable in the moments. Minute after minute life slipped away unnoticed.

Facing motherhood and life alone meant that my list for the future cascaded in the damp memory of my mind. I am at a place without a map for my dreams and plans. Not because I am despondent or disillusioned but because I hadn't thought of this moment. This place is where dreams meet the past and the future is like the point at the edge of the world. There is nothing here but at the same time there is everything. I don't have a bucket list of plans. I am neither looking to the future to satisfy nor am I rummaging through the past to pacify. Instead I can enjoy filling an afternoon with bubbling pots of love ready to nourish. I can sit in an evening of prayers sent up to heaven by my children. I am content to watch the happy yellow winged trees make an entrance.