Donna, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
And that means holiday treats are going to be everywhere.
Of course, traditional Christmas treats can be a real scrooge on your waistline.
Unless you make them the Gundry way.
So I figured now would be prime time to share one of my favorite decadent desserts that’s perfect for the holidays.
It’s fun, festive, and inspired by everyone’s favorite sweet spread: Nutella.
But unlike conventional Nutella — this recipe isn’t loaded in sugar, soy, or unhealthy palm oil.
Instead, it’s rich in protein, high in polyphenols, and packed with flavor.
Even better – these guilt-free chocolate hazelnut cookies are pretty quick to make.
Ingredients (makes 12-14 cookies):
- 2 cups toasted hazelnuts (or 1 cup 100% hazelnut butter)
- 2 pastured or omega-3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons powdered stevia
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 Tablespoon Allulose
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not dutch)
- 2 Tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate (at least 72% cacao)
- Preheat your oven to 325F. Then, oil a cookie sheet (or line it with parchment) and set it aside.
- If you’re using whole hazelnuts, grind them in a food processor or blender until you achieve the consistency of peanut butter, which may take a few minutes. If you’re using hazelnut butter, measure 1 cup into a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk your hazelnut butter with the eggs, olive oil, stevia or Allulose, and vanilla extract until they’re well combined.
- Now sift the sea salt, cocoa powder, coconut flour, and baking soda into the hazelnut mixture and stir everything together until it’s combined.
- Add your chopped chocolate, stir well, and then divide the mix into tablespoon-sized balls (about the size of half a golf ball). You should end up with around 12-14 cookie dough balls.
- Bake them for 5 minutes and flatten with a spatula if you prefer flatter cookies. Then cook them for an additional 5-7 minutes, until they’re firm on top.
- Remove, let cool, serve, and enjoy!
Me and my grandkids make these every year together around the holidays...
And waiting for them to cool down is almost like torture for the kiddos. That's how tasty these cookies are.
(Believe me, if they weren't tasty — my grandkids would be the first to let me know lol.)
So be sure to give these a whirl sometime in the coming weeks…
And here’s to a merry holiday season,
Steven Gundry, MD
P.S. Here in the Gundry MD office, we just put up our tree.
'Tis the season in
the Gundry MD office.
But it doesn't just make the place look pretty — it’s also great for everyone’s health.
Yep. Researchers in Japan found that when people walked by pine trees, they felt significantly less stressed.
In fact, not only were they more relaxed… they also felt happier.
And it’s all thanks to the calming scent of pine trees — the same exact scent a Christmas tree gives off!
(By the way, this is true whether your tree is pine, fir, or spruce as they’re all in the same tree family.)
So if you’re putting up a tree this year, don’t be shy about making the most of it.
Being around the tree, smelling that familiar Christmas scent, and seeing the smiling faces of the people you love…
It’s sure to give you a little boost of happiness and cheer.
P.P.S. Don’t worry if you’ve got a fake Christmas tree or no tree at all — you can still get the relaxing benefits of a real one.
Simply grab some pine branches outside, turn them into a bouquet, slap them in a vase, and voila!
You can start enjoying that nice, relaxing aroma.
Sources
1. Morita E, Fukuda S, Nagano J et al. Psychological effects of forest environments on healthy adults: Shinrin-yoku (forest-air bathing, walking) as a possible method of stress reduction. Public Health. 2007;121(1):54-63. doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2006.05.024.