This unique cookie creation was inspired by the beautiful and fabulous, Shauna of Gluten-Free Girl and The Chef, whom I was lucky enough to meet out in San Francisco earlier this month at BlogHer Food… We were tweeting a few weeks ago about our new found love for smoked paprika… she was adding it to her cinnamon rolls … and I, well… I got busy in my tiny Manhattan apartment and created a cookie masterpiece.

These babies will be surely popping up on my Thanksgiving and Christmas dessert tables …

A little touch of smokey flavor…a bit of sweet stevia and coconut … a touch of dried cherries and of course, we cannot forget the best part … dark chocolate chips … oooo

Is your mouth watering yet?

Mine is… and I just bit into another one …

They’re almost gone … And they surely didn’t last long in my kitchen as I’ve been nibblin’ on them since they popped out of the oven.

I do suggest stashing a few in the freezer for an extra decadent treat that can be used to create tasty ice cream sandwiches … or  store them in a sealed jar to crumble atop your morning oats, afternoon yogurt parfait or evening dessert …

Either way … they will not disappoint …

They will impress

You and your taste buds…

So, what are you waiting for? Dig in… and savor each bite.

Gluten-Free Smoked Paprika Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 cup stevia for baking
• 2 Tbsp. ground flax seeds
• 2 Tbsp. coconut flakes
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 1/3 cup almond flour
• 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/3 tsp. sea salt
• 1 cup pistachios, chopped
• 3/4 cup dried cherries
• 1/4 cup gluten-free rolled oats

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Combine butter and chocolate chips in a small pan over medium heat; mix until melted then remove from heat.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the melted chocolate mixture with stevia, flax seeds, almond extract and coconut flakes.  In a separate bowl, combine almond flour, baking powder and sea salt; slowly add this to the chocolate mixture along with chopped pistachios, cherries and oats.  Mix well to combine, using hands.
4. Place teaspoon sized balls of dough onto cookie sheets.  Bake for 7-9 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
5. Remove from the oven; set aside to cool.
6. Enjoy!

And, speaking of fabulous cookies for all of you Gluten-Free fans out there… have you tried my gal, Elizabeth’s new cookies? Purely Elizabeth did it again, she launched another fabulous gluten-free product, that I am lovin!

Personally…. I can’t get enough of her new Oatmeal Cherry Chocolate Chip cookies…

Enjoy!