Cheerful Macadamia and Cranberry Cookies

GLUTEN FREE, GRAIN FREE, DAIRY FREE, SOY FREE, EGG FREE, PALEO

The season to be jolly is upon us and I have kicked off my Christmas baking with these cheerful bites of deliciousness!
We had planned to spend the day putting up the tree and going berry picking…but I have the dreaded lurgy so things have been put on hold until tomorrow afternoon.
In the meantime we are enjoying relaxing on the veranda with Christmassy delights like these tasty cookies!
These cookies are the perfect way to get you into the ‘spirit’, and lift your spirit, if you’re feeling as stuffy and sleepy as me!
May your days be merry and bright!

Recipe
½ cup cashews
¼ cup desiccated coconut
2 medjool dates
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp coconut oil, softened
1 tbsp coconut flour
¼ cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
¼ cup dried cranberries
1 extra tbsp desiccated coconut

Method
Preheat the oven to 120C and line a baking dish with baking paper.
Place the cashews and desiccated coconut in a high speed blender or food processor and pulse until you have a coarse flour.
Now add the medjool dates, vanilla essence, maple syrup, coconut oil and coconut flour.  Pulse until well combined.  The mixture should be sticky and hold together well.
Transfer the cookie dough to your kitchen bench and knead in the macadamias, cranberries and extra tbsp. of desiccated coconut until evenly distributed.
Using your hands divide the dough into equal portions of 8-12 (depending on how big you want your cookies to be), roll into balls, press flat and place on your baking tray.
Pop your cookies into the oven for 5-10 minutes or until lightly browned on top.
Be careful, these will be a little delicate until the coconut oil firms up.  You can hurry this along by placing them in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes before gobbling them up.
Enjoy!!  Seriously, yum!