A month or so back I stumbled upon blog so lovely I immediately became enamored. The name, Sprouted Kitchen. The mission, to make whole foods tasty. The pair behind the movement, husband and wife Sara and Hugh Forte – cook and photographer, respectively.

Consider me hooked, hence the reason I hopped over to Amazon mere moments after discovering their site and snatched up a copy of their new cookbook. This is my humble attempt at honoring the amazing work Sarah and Hugh have put forth in this stunning book that has now become my constant cooking companion, favorite coffee table book, and source of light reading on the weekends (all three true statements).

I love Sprouted Kitchen because it’s not trying to be anything, per say, besides honest. It’s not trying to secure the market on gluten free cakes or sneak spinach into brownies or make you give up meat. It’s simply presenting whole foods in a beautiful, simple way and making them damn delicious in the process. Proof? These gluten-free cookies that require just a few ingredients (that’s my kind of recipe) and contain three of my favorite flavors: chocolate, coconut and almond.

John and I had a few friends over for dinner last week and as we were expecting a few gluten-free eaters, I knew these cookies would be just the thing to bake. I had everything on hand except coconut flake, which I walked a block or so over to our local specialty foods purveyor (Nifty Nut House) to grab a pound or so of. While there I also managed to snag a “sample” of a double dipped dark chocolate malt ball – an object so large it hardly warrants the title of sample and more like small feast. Either way, I headed back to our place, the Kansas wind whipping my hair in all directions, coconut clutched in my hand and a happy chocolate-coated malt ball belly in tow. Life was good.

I was so excited to make these cookies – my first recipe to try from Sprouted Kitchen – that I think I literally squealed out loud while gathering my ingredients. Three things I loved about this recipe: It was simple, healthy and quick to prepare; not to mention it yielded some seriously amazing chocolate chip cookies that any eater – gluten-free or not – would be pleased to pick up (yes, the cookie platter was plumb empty halfway through our dinner party).

So thank you Sara for dreaming up such delicious, wholesome recipes and sharing them on Sprouted Kitchen. And thank you Hugh for capturing it all with your impeccable photography skills. I suspect these cookies – and your cookbook – will be warming my little home and my heart for a long time to come. Cheers.