Zucchini Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies {GF}

Hi guys! I have the last of our guest post series for you today and it’s from the wonderful Alice from Hip Foodie Mom. I’ve been extremely lucky to have a few blogging friends help me out during this maternity leave and I can’t believe it’s been almost 8 weeks already. THANK YOU everyone who shared recipes with my readers and all of you who kept the site going by visiting as I took some time off.

Let’s get on with today’s recipe; zucchini coconut chocolate chip cookies, from Alice. Alice is my blogger boo and I’ve been very lucky to have her as a friend these past few years. She is kind, nurturing and an excellent mom so I’ve been learning a lot from her. Thanks for sharing your wisdom with me!

Hey guys!

I’m Alice from Hip Foodie Mom and am so happy to be here today! I made these fabulous Zucchini Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies for you guys and Zainab so you have to try them!

I have two daughters, ages 4 and 8. I wasn’t blogging full-time back when I had them so I have so much respect and admiration for those who are doing the blogging thing with a newborn. I’m not sure I could have done it.

Because I was emotional you guys. Like weepy and emotional. Not in a depressed way but in an oh-my-gawd-this-is-my-child-what-a-miracle! kind of way. Every moment was captured on camera and every night I would sit and watch her sleep and get all teary eyed. And if you think about it, we women are all kinds of fabulous. We give birth (and there’s all kinds of healing and things that go on down there after childbirth), breast feed, and if you have other kids, you have to take care of them too. I know this is so cliché but being a mother really is the hardest job ever. But it’s also what we make it. And it’s also forgiving because, if you’re like me, you will most definitely screw up and wonder if you’ve scarred your kids for life. I am grateful for my daughters’ loving and forgiving hearts and that they still wake up and come running to me. Even when I am crazy.

Because I’ve gone through childbirth twice, I wanted to share some advice that I wish other moms had shared with me.

So, here goes: if you’re the controlling type, it might be hard to let go right after you’ve had your baby and let people help you, or ask for help. Help with the housework and cooking and anything else. Ask for and accept help. You’ll need it. Although you’d like to think so, you are not Super Woman, and if you are, you still need help sometimes too.

Don’t feel guilty about leaving your baby and going to the gym or getting a manicure, or a haircut. Take care of yourself! Pamper yourself and don’t feel bad about it. Get out of those house clothes and take a shower. Take a shower everyday. If the weather allows, get outside everyday and go for a walk. That’s seriously free therapy right there. I stayed cooped up in my house for a few weeks and felt miserable. When I started getting out and taking walks with my daughter, I was a whole new person. And go to the mall, or Barnes and Noble or meet your friend at Starbuck’s. You can take your newborn out. Don’t be afraid of it.

And as far as eating out is concerned, if you were a couple who ate out a lot, do it! You can do things as a family. Don’t forget that. Now, the restaurants that you go to might be different. Like, you’re not going to take a newborn to that hot, new hip restaurant in town but you might hit up your favorite local Italian joint. Start small and work up! We started at Soup Plantation and by the time I had my second child, I was taking Madeline with me to Restaurant Week in Seattle for lunch.

Don’t forget to give your significant other some love and attention too. Often times, since we are dealing with the baby and we’re tired and you guys might be fighting or arguing a little more often because you are sleep deprived ..  try to spend even just 15 minutes with your spouse, talking, catching up on the day’s events. And when you’re ready, make sure you are going to funky town every now and then. Zainab’s a Parenthood fan so I hope she knows what this means. Come on. We’re all adults. We need some lovin’ every now and then.

And I’ll end with this: if at all possible, sleep-train your baby in his or her crib. I have a lot of friends who are big fans of co-sleeping or letting their baby/toddler/kid sleep with them and hey, if that’s your thing, you can stop reading. There are some studies that speak to kids who co-slept with their parents and the studies say they are more confident and secure in themselves or something like that. But people can argue the opposite side too. At the end of the day, you need do to what you need to do to survive and get sleep. In my humble opinion, if you can and are able, start the baby off in the crib and keep the baby in the crib until he or she is ready to move to a bed. I bought all the sleep-training books and didn’t read a single one. I flipped through a few and we did have our first daughter in bed with us because it was easier for me and my husband, but let me tell you, it took forever to get her out.

The thing that I loved, which I didn’t think I would, was making my own baby food. Don’t get me wrong, I did buy the pre-made stuff too for then we needed it but I did a mixture of both. Phoebe would be sitting at the table and Madeline in her high chair and they’d be staring at me as I was whirling something together in my blender or food processor. And now, my girls are often with me in the kitchen when I’m cooking or baking.

They are still young so they are not at the stove with me but they are great mixers and they helped me make these cookies!

These are seriously the best cookies I’ve made in a while. And the kids didn’t think twice about devouring cookies with green stuff in them. I hope you try these!

And Zainab, my dear friend, I can’t wait to see you (and maybe E) in November! Big hug and love you!

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Zucchini Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 14 minutes

Total Time 34 minutes

Ingredients

• ½ cup coconut oil, melted and cooled to room temp
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1 ½ cups gluten free baking flour*
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
• ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
• ½ cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Using a large mixing bowl, mix together the melted and cooled coconut oil and sugars, and stir until smooth. Add the egg, vanilla and zucchini and mix until combined.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet, and stir until just combined. Mix in the oats, shredded coconut and chocolate chips.

Use a tablespoon sized cookie scoop and place dough balls on your prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. At this point, you can gently press a few additional chocolate chips on top of the cookie dough balls if you’d like.

Bake the cookies for about 12 to 14 minutes, or until cookies are golden around the edges and set. Cool on baking sheets for about 5 minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Notes

You can use all-purpose flour for this recipe. I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 baking flour.
Adapted from here

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