Variation on Raw-Inspired Date Cookies

So the date cookies didn't last very long and I had to do something else to satisfy my sweet tooth and my need to have at least some solid food.  I was looking around at others blogs (which I do for inspiration, since I'm a relative newcomer to this way of eating - I'm still cheating with forbidden foods on occasion), and I kept reading about the joys of almond flour.  Rather than buying some at the local natural foods store (which takes up lots of my time and money already), I ground up some almonds in my coffee grinder and made a variation on the date cookies.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups fresh ground almond flour
3/4 cup finely chopped dates
1 tbsp flax seeds (optional, but recommended)
1 tbsp hemp seeds (optional, but recommended)
1 tbsp chia seeds (optional, but recommended)
2 tbsp honey
a dash of vanilla extract
a dash of almond extract
1/8 cup melted coconut oil
1 scoop greens powder (optional)
3 tbsp cocoa powder (include if you use the greens powder)

Directions

Combine almond flour, dates, and seeds in a mixing bowl.  Mix.  Pour mixture into a blender/food processor and blend until well blended.  Take mixture out of blender and back into the mixing bowl.  Add honey, coconut oil, vanilla and almond extracts, greens powder and cocoa powder.  Mix mixture until you get a good solid dough.  Scoop out on to wax paper and place in the refrigerator for about an hour, or, if you have a dehydrator, dehydrate to taste.

Raw-Inspired Date Cookies

When Michael (my boyfriend for newcomers) and I went on a nice long hike several days ago, I bought some raw cookie-like energy cubes from the natural food store here that were quite good.  As usual though, it felt like a compromise to buy the things - even from the natural food store - because they had the ubiquitous "natural flavors" on the ingredient's list.  Frankly, "natural flavors" could mean anything: all-natural extracts (which I can have, in moderation) or something I would rather not think about.  Either way, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and replicate the cookie-ish energy cubes on my own, so that I wouldn't have to worry about what the heck "natural flavors" means.  This is an approximation of what I came up with:

Ingredients
2-3 big fistfuls of dates, finely chopped
a tablespoon or two almond flour
two to four tablespoons shredded coconut, divided
a teaspoon or two honey
a few drops vanilla extract
1/2 a scoop of my greens powder (optional)
a tablespoon or two of cocoa powder (optional)

Puree dates, almond flour, and 2 tablespoons  of shredded coconut in a food processor.  Remove from food processor and add honey, vanilla extract, greens powder, and cocoa powder.  Mix until you get a sticky dough-like substance.  Divide into bite size balls on parchment paper and flatten into a cookie shape.  Sprinkle the rest of the shredded coconut on top and press the coconut into the cookie.  Chill for an hour. 

I'll be trying other variations, since my searches on several raw and paleo blogs have yielded some inspiration for variations on the no-cook cookie theme.