"Paleo-licious" Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

I made these little balls of joy last night and they were a HUGE hit!!! Even Mr. Picky Pants loved them (and that's saying something).

The original recipe came from The Frisky Lemon...great blog...check it out! I tweaked the recipe a tad...I was out of vanilla extract (my new batch won't be ready for a couple more months), so I scraped one whole vanilla bean and used the bean paste instead. If you are super strict Paleo, use the coconut oil instead of the butter...you know my motto..."do whatever makes you happy"! You also don't have to dip these in chocolate, they are amazing straight up plain...I had to shoo Tori away form the bowl, she kept stealing dough!

2 1/2 cups Almond Meal (I use Bob's Red Mill)
1/3 cup raw honey
3 tbsp coconut flour
8 tbsp salted butter (organic pasture fed is best), softened or 8 tbsp coconut oil (do not melt the oil)
1 tbsp vanilla or paste from one vanilla bean
1 cup chocolate chips/chunks*
Additional chocolate and coconut oil for dipping - optional

In a mixing bowl, cream butter (or oil), honey and vanilla until well blended and creamy. I used a rubber spatula and it worked great...no need to dirty your stand mixer :)

Once butter mixture is nice and smooth, add in the almond meal one cup at a time. Stir well after each addition. Next add the coconut flour 1 tbsp at a time, stirring well to combine. Stir in chocolate chips and using a small ice cream scoop (or a spoon) make walnut size balls. Place balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place in freezer for 15-20 minutes.

While truffles are chilling, melt a cup of chocolate chips with a tbsp of coconut butter in a microwave safe bowl. Stir to combine.

Using a fork, dip each truffle into chocolate and coat. Tap fork on edge of bowl to remove excess chocolate and return truffle to baking sheet. Repeat until all are dipped. Return baking sheet to freezer 5 minutes to harden chocolate. Once chocolate is set, place truffles in resealable container and store in fridge...Enjoy!

*Use your favorite chocolate chips...I like Whole Foods semi sweet chocolate chunks, but use what makes you happy.

Everybody’s Favorite Banana Pudding

Here it is....everybody's favorite banana pudding. Tori calls it famous...Chris calls it the best ever...I call it an easy dessert that feeds a ton of people!  I made it for a function today and someone asked for the recipe...I pulled up the blog and realized that I  never put it on here...what the heck is wrong with that picture?! The orginal recipe is from Paula Deen...I tweaked it a tad and love the results.

 1 box vanilla wafers (regular ones...NO low fat or fat free)

3 to 4 bananas, sliced (depending on size of your bananas)

2 cups whole milk

2 -  3.4 oz boxes instant  vanilla pudding

1 -  8 oz package cream cheese, softened

1  - 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 -  12 oz container cool whip, thawed

 Line the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish with vanilla wafers. Top cookies with a layer of bananas.

In a large bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well. In a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix with paddle attachment on medium high until smooth and creamy. Fold the cool whip into the cream cheese mixture.Next add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and gently stir until well blended. Spoon half the pudding mixture over cookie/banana layer. Place another layer of cookies and bananas on top of pudding. Spoon remaining pudding over the top and spread to cover completely. Cover with saran wrap and chill at least 12 hours before serving.

Serve pudding with lightly sweetened whipped cream.