Raw Cookies: Vegan, Gluten-free and Chocolate Chip

I've been really neglecting the moment lately. As in, my mind is never in the present. This is evident in the amount of times I've had to reassure Netflix that yes, I'm still here and yes, I would like to continue watching episode after episode of Scandal while I clean/cook/do laundry/make my third to-do list of the day (why would you make it automatically start the next episode only to later shame us?). Further confirmation can be found in the dinner I had to toss after I absent-mindedly grabbed the nearest olive oil bottle - which last year I turned into a soap dispenser - and generously drizzled all over the hot frying pan. I'm living in a haze of an unpaid work placement, school, training for a spring marathon and sad attempts at maintaining friendships and being creative to foster my artsy-foodie spirit.

One thing that has been a fairly serious and focused part of my life, though, is a recently accepted addiction to chocolate and sweets. A lovely friend of mine recently shared an amazing raw cookie recipe with me that she got from her friend's mom. While we are unable to trace the exact origins, this is an adaptation of an incredible treat that I have no other choice but to make on a weekly basis for the rest of my life.

Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies  

Ingredients: 

1 cup brazil nuts
1/2 cup GF oats
1 1/2 tbsp ground flax seed
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
2 tbsp maple syrup or vegan sweetener
pinch of sea salt
vegan dark chocolate chips - as many as you want

Directions:

Blend everything in a food processor, either with the chocolate chips or adding them after if you like your chocolate in more concentrated doses, like me. Roll them into balls with your hands and squish them into cookie shapes. Freeze or refrigerate. Makes about 8 cookies, depending on how big you make them and how many actually make it into the container before your mouth.