It's an exciting time of year.  In our home we celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah as well as the winter solstice.  Blending the customs of the various traditions is fun and allows us to experience a rather full holiday season.

I was out of town last weekend through late Tuesday night and arrived home to find a tree in my living room!  My boys were busy at work while I was gone!  It's such a joy to see how fully my husband Scott, raised Jewish, embraces my Christmas traditions.

There is so much joy and connection this time of year!  Regardless of which holiday you celebrate, its likely you have traditions around connecting with people you love and giving gifts.

The downside of this time of year is the focus on food.  At every corner is some new temptation  – cookies, pies, candy, hor dourves!  Unfortunately, most of it is high in sugar, fat and refined flour and does nothing for your health and has a knack for expanding your waist-line, zapping your energy and exacerbating inflammation.  So instead of feeling at your best and really enjoying your connections with people, you may find yourself feeling foggy headed, over stuffed and more depressed about the state of your body that you'd ideally like to be.

I have a favorite cookie recipe I learned from a Betty Crocker cookbook shortly after I moved out on my own in my early 20's.  I made these cookies every year and they were LOVED BY ALL.  Then something happened, and I “changed my diet”.  You may already know the story, as I've shared it on many a teleseminar.  The first Christmas after I changed my ways, I reinvented the cookie recipe.  I substituted the white flour for whole grain, substituted the butter and eggs with almond butter and psyllium and the cookies, while tasty, were not as popular as the originals.

Over the years I refined the recipe, and I now have a raw dehydrated version that knocks people's socks off.  And I'm sharing it with you today.

Raspberry Filled Almond Cookies

Ingredients – Cookie

• 1 cup almonds, soaked
• 3/4 cup dates, pitted
• 1 dash sea salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients – Raspberry Filling

• 1 pint raspberries (fresh, or frozen and thawed)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup coconut butter cream concentrate
• 2 large medjool dates soaked for 15 minutes in water.

Directions
COOKIE: Process nuts and dates with salt and vanilla in food processor until they are completely chopped. Mixture should be a little coarse and should hold together. If needed, add a tablespoon or 2 of water.

FILLING: Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender and blend until smooth. If too thick, add more water. The mixture should be thick and creamy.

PREPARATION:

1. Form 1-inch balls with the dough. Place the balls on a paraflex sheet to make the bottoms. Use a cookie cutter to form shapes or press gently with the bottom of a small drinking glass to make uniformly sized, circular cookie shapes.  On half of the cookies, cut a small circle in the center to make the tops.
2. Dehydrate 12 to 24 hours until fairly dry.
3. Remove paraflex sheet and dehydrate for another couple of hours.
4. Remove from dehydrator and place on a cookie sheet.
5. Spoon the filling onto the cookie bottoms. Cover with the cookie tops.
6. Put in freezer for a couple of hours to set.

These are decadently delicious.