This weekend was a busy one (I even posted on Saturday about Hayden's favorite beverage; click here if you missed it), full of Christmas parties, last-minute shopping, birthday celebrations and even a visit by Santa (I'll get to that one in a minute).
Somehow Hayden and I found a moment to make these sweet cookies, and they sure are sweet like candy. They're the perfect way to introduce someone to hemp hearts.The kind people at Manitoba Harvest (I think I may have mispronounced the name in our video) were nice enough to send us a bag of their hemp hearts (shelled hemp seeds), so we just had to show our appreciation with a simple recipe. Usually, I'd add them to smoothies, raw puddings, salads, raw cupcakes, etc., but since it is the holidays, we decided to sweeten them up a tad more like a cookie.
For some reason, I immediately thought of those sesame seed cookies that are basically a bunch of sesame seeds "glued" together by a caramel/toffee-like substance. The cookies pictured in this link were the closest I could find to what I remembered; maybe I'm just confusing them with a candy.
Anyway, since hemp seeds somewhat resemble sesame seeds, I decided to treat them similarly, adding about 1 and 1/2 Tbsp. of pure maple syrup (enough to stick, but not to drip) to 1/2 cup of the hemp hearts. I enhanced the flavor with a sprinkling of sea salt and 1/2 tsp. of vanilla.Then, Hayden and I stirred the mixture up and dropped spoonfuls of it onto a dehydrator sheet. We smoothed them out into 10 little rounds, using a spoon I had greased with coconut oil.
These were "unbaked" in our dehydrator at 105 degrees for 8 hours before flipping and continuing to "unbake" for another 6 to 8 hours. *Note: Be very careful flipping these, as they are VERY sticky. I'd advise using a flat knife or spatula that's been greased with coconut oil to help remove them from the teflex sheet or parchment.
Hayden and I did a quick taste test video after returning from our visit to Santa. She flipped out the moment he came in the door. Jacob didn't want to go see him without her, so we stood next to them.
Here's a pic of Hayden screaming, Jacob enjoying the moment and Santa handing Hayden an orange (so cool that he handed out oranges, instead of candy). Santa had some trouble hearing Jacob's requests over Hayden's strong lungs, but I'm sure he knows what he wants ;-)
I can't believe how much Jacob has grown up (below are some photos I've posted of him on my site over the years). He just turned 9 years old today.
Happy birthday Jacob!
