Let the countdown begin!

THIS Friday, November 6th....

My healthy holiday dessert e-cookbook, Smart Cookie, will be released and I am sooooo excited to fill your homes with the smells and tastes and beauty of these festive treats!



What's unique about my cookbook?

• It is FULL of only dessert recipes (42 in total)

• All recipes are free of: gluten, dairy, and refined sugar

• It's an instant download which means within minutes of when you purchase it, you can pick which dessert you want to try first -- no waiting for shipping!

• You'll get 2 versions -- a pretty, picture-filled one and a more printer-friendly version with no pictures. Either one will print well, but you choose whether you wanna tear through your color ink for this book or not. ;-)

• You'll find ALL the festive tastes in this one book: chocolate, hazelnut, gingerbread, apple, pumpkin, cranberry, etc.

• Plenty of items to bake, but also stovetop, slow cooker, and no bake options!

What to do now? Hop on my email list and get excited. When this e-cookbook is available (on Friday), you'll receive another email from me with the direct link to purchase.



What's your favorite holiday dessert? Leave a comment here to let me know and I'll enter you into my drawing to win a free copy. Email responses will be pooled with social media responses and I will announce a winner on Friday (and contact you via email if you win)!


XO,
Tara



P.S. This HIIT and Core workout I shared recently on instagram ended up being my most 'popular' post to date. I figured I'd share it with you here in case you missed it. Make sure you read the caption about breath work while you're there.

Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies

Hey there,

Where are my pumpkin-all-year-round fans?

Not too sweet but definitely delicious, this muffin-y breakfast cookies hit the spot. You might as well make a huge batch to freeze for those hectic mornings or afternoon snack attack!

Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies
(Makes 10-12 large cookies)

Ingredients:

1 cup gluten-free rolled oats (or oat flour)
⅓ cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
½ cup your favorite nut butter
⅓ cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
¼ tsp baking soda
½ cup dried cranberries (or other dried fruit)
½ cup pecans (or your choice of nuts/seeds)


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a blender or food processor, grind the rolled oats until they become like flour. Set aside.

3. In a mixing bowl, add the pumpkin, nut butter, honey and vanilla and blend until combined. Add the oat flour, pumpkin pie spice and baking soda and mix well. Stir in the cranberries and pecans.

4. Place cookie-sized scoops of the batter on the baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes. After removing from the oven, let cool a couple minutes on the baking sheet before putting on a cooling rack.

***Swap the nut butter for seed butter and leave out the pecans if you have nut allergies in your house (or the kids' school).



Health + Happiness,
Tara

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Welcome to November…and the onslaught of decadent holiday recipes coming your way!

Last week was Halloween and the way we circumvent tons of junky junk is by substituting it with healthy junk. ;-) These Oatmeal Raisin Cookies got sent in with my kiddos to school when they had their parties so that they would have a healthier alternative that would still taste great and feel like a special treat for them.

Mission accomplished.

I needed it to be gluten free, dairy free, nut free (school rules), and no refined sugar.

Here’s what we came up with…

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

(Makes 24 cookies)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats

• 2/3 cup ground flaxseeds

• 1/2 cup raisins

• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

• 1/3 cup maple syrup

• 1 egg

• 2 T water

• 1 tsp. baking powder (aluminum-free)

• 1 tsp. cinnamon

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

• Optional: add 1/4 cup chocolate chips. walnuts, or dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Place the raisins in a bowl and add water until covered. Allow to soak for 15 minutes.(You can skip this step, but your raisins will be dry in the cookies).

3. In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients: oats, flaxseed, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: egg, maple syrup, vanilla, coconut oil, and water.

5. Mix your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients.

6. Fold in raisins and any additional mix-ins, if desired.

7. Scoop tablespoon-sized balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly with back of spoon.

8. Bake for 16-18 minutes.

9. Enjoy!

WIll you be trying these? Let us know!

In good health,

Tara

Holiday Spiced Sugar Cookies

Hey you,

It wouldn't be a holiday season without using our favorite cookie cutters or making a complete flour-y mess of the kitchen floor with the kiddos, would it? ;-)

These Holiday Spiced Sugar Cookies will hit the spot!  They are doughy / soft and just a bit sweet...nothing that will send you into that sugar craving downward spiral.  Bring them along to your next holiday party or cookie exchange....and double the batch to keep some extras at home!

<<These are gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, and soy free.>>

In Joy and Health,

Tara

Holiday Spiced Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

2.5 cups almond flour

¼ cup honey

1 large egg

1.5 T coconut oil

½ tsp pure almond extract

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp sea salt

½ tsp ginger

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp cinnamon

coconut flour (for rolling out and dusting)

Directions:

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.    Mix all ingredients in a food processor, mixer, or by hand.

3.    Flatten dough to about 1/3 – ½ inch thickness.  Cover and allow to cool in fridge for 30 minutes.

4.    Place dough between wax paper, sprinkle with coconut flour, and roll out with a rolling pin.

5.    Dust again with coconut flour before using cookie cutters.

6.    Collect “scraps” and repeat steps 4 & 5 until all dough is used.

7.    Place cookies on a baking sheet greased with coconut oil or lined with parchment paper.

8.    Decorate as desired or leave cookies plain.

9.    Bake 7-10 minutes (until edges start to turn golden-brown).