Yeasted Whole Wheat-Vanilla Waffles with Coconut Whipped Cream + Record Shopping & Sky Gazing.

Yeasted Whole Wheat-Vanilla Waffles 

with

Coconut Whipped Cream

(+ Record Shopping & Sky Gazing).

waffle therapy.

Last week was kind of shitty. Lots of unanticipated stress and weirdness. Lots of scattered thoughts and interrupted sleep, lots of anxious heart pounding, lots of forgetting to eat for an entire day. Nothing earth shattering, just...disrupting. So the weekend called for some serious food therapy, hence waffles, and some serious soul therapy, hence flipping through bins of musty old records. 

Both helpful in their own ways, though one smells significantly better. 

A little riff on an old favorite because, as we all know, 

everything's better with coconut. 

Yeasted Whole Wheat-VanillaWaffles 

with Coconut Whipped Cream

(serves 4/ makes about 12 waffles)

2 14oz cans organic full fat coconut milk,

refrigerated (unopened) overnight

1/2c lukewarm water

1 1/2c whole wheat flour

1c all purpose flour

1/2c unrefined coconut oil

2 1/2tsp active dry yeast

1tsp raw sugar

1/2tsp ground sea salt

1tsp vanilla bean paste (extract will work, too)

2Tbsp ground flax seed + 6Tbsp boiling water

1tsp baking soda

additional 2-3tsp unrefined sugar + 1/2tsp vanilla paste for coconut cream

1c wild blueberries or other fresh fruit, for serving

nice nooks.

Vegan No-Bake Toasted Coconut Macaroons.

because we're all little cookie monsters at heart.

No-Bake Toasted Coconut Macaroons.

pretty little balls of unbaked goodness.

I could live without candy. Don't get me wrong, I love it and will eagerly shove all manner of vegan confections into my face hole when the opportunity presents itself. But if I HAD to, I could live without it. Cookies, on the other hand, not so much.
Life without cookies wouldn't be worth living. 

Cookies bring the happy,
and if we've learned just one thing from watching Sesame Street it's that

MORE cookies = MORE happy.

soon to be cookie-d. yes i made cookie a verb.

So, clearly we should all be eating more cookie-centric meals. 

And thus I've been giving the concept of  breakfast cookies
some serious thought this winter. 

I've always been a firm believer in the "if a cookie has nuts you can eat it for breakfast" rule, but chocolate chip cookies with walnuts?
Probably not the best way to start your day, at least not EVERY day. 

But these cookies...these cookies are day starters. 

Full-on good for you day-starters.

Plus, as a nice little bonus, you don't even have to bake 'em.

With an optional, but recommended, dark chocolate drizzle.

Because there's not a damn thing wrong with a little bit
of dark chocolate for breakfast. 

Recipe notes:

I use a large flake coconut for the cookies, as opposed to a finely shredded one. 

I have tried both and found that the large flake holds up better to the food processor and gives the cookies a much better texture.

cookie-d is a verb. cookie-d is also a state of mind.

No-Bake Toasted Coconut Macaroons.

(makes 12 small cookies)

1 1/2c large flake unsweetened coconut

1/3c melted coconut oil 

5 medium pitted medjool dates

2tbsp raw hemp seeds

1/2tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4tsp finely ground sea salt

for optional chocolate drizzle:

2tbsp dark chocolate chips
1/2tsp coconut oil

toast your coconut:

Heat a frying pan over medium heat..

Add coconut, stirring frequently, until lightly browned.

This will only take a minute or two.

Keep an eye on the coconut and do not stop stirring, as it can easily burn.

Remove from heat when lightly browned and allow to cool.

make cookie "dough":

Add dates and 1/3 of the toasted coconut to bowl of a food processor and pulse 

until dates have broken down, about 30 seconds. 

Add the remainder of the toasted coconut, melted coconut oil, vanilla and sea salt.

Process for about 1 minute until mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

Transfer mixture to mixing bowl, add hemp seeds and stir well to incorporate.

form cookies:

Using a tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop up enough mixture to fill the spoon.
Press to pack tightly.

Pop cookies out of spoon and onto a parchment-covered cookie sheet.

for optional chocolate drizzle:

Melt chocolate chips and extra coconut oil in microwave or over a double boiler.

Using the tines of a fork, drizzle chocolate over each cookie.

Chill finished cookies in the freezer for at least an hour.

om nom nom nom nom.