The recipe for these Celiac-friendly cookies were given to me by a neighbour, a fellow artist, who fell in love with naturopathic medicine after visiting a naturopath for treatment for her Crohn’s Disease.  She shared with my family this recipe for dairy and gluten free (also paleo-friendly) chocolate chip and nut meringue cookies.

After trying the recipe out, these cookies quickly became a sweet family favourite.  Now that most of my family is on the Elimination Diet, these cookies have become an inevitable go-to treat for satisfying that sweet tooth, without all the extra guilt involved.

Here’s how to make them:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet.

Collect ingredients:

– 2 egg whites

– 1/2 cup of sugar

– 1/2 tsp vanilla

– 1 small package of chocolate chips. – Buy brands according to your dietary restrictions.  Chocolate chips can also be substituted for carob chips or eliminated completely.

– 1 cup pecans, almonds or walnuts, chopped

Beat egg whites until stiff (or use a mixer).  Slowly add sugar and continue to beat at high speed for about 5 minutes.

Fold in the rest of the ingredients.

Drop a teaspoon-sized dollop of cookie mixture onto baking sheets.  Put sheet into the oven and turn off the heat (do not open door).  Leave the cookies in overnight or for at least 8 hours.

This recipe should make about 3 dozen cookies.  However, tripling the ingredients to make a giant batch is energy efficient (and makes more cookies!)  The cookies freeze very well and can be taken out from the freezer and eaten right away any time you need a sweet fix.

The smooth crunchy exterior gives way to a chewy, sweet interior, peppered with the sweet crunch of chocolate chips and nuts.

They’re totally addictive!

Happy coffee time! (Coffee shown here is made with non-sweetened almond milk).