Low glycemic, gluten free whole food olive oil and dark chocolate chip cookies
If you follow me on social, you may know I’ve been really sick with food poisoning for the last 10 or so days. A conversation for another time perhaps, but sickness like food poisoning can hit those of us with POTS/dysautonomia and/or MCAS harder, and it can worsen the symptoms of these conditions and generally make recovery a lot more challenging, which it was for me.
Aside from the POTS and MCAS, the food poisoning itself has really dragged out, and I spent a full seven days eating dry white bread and crackers, if I could stomach them at all. It was only the past two days that I’ve been able to start eating very small amounts of real food, prior to that, the smell of anything, even my favourite foods, would trigger nausea.
Then at the weekend, out of the blue, I got a craving for a cookie. I knew it would take a lot of energy from me, and I knew I would probably only have the appetite for just one out of the whole batch, but anything that got me enticed to eat again, was a good sign to me and so I went with the instinct.
I had actually been toying in my mind with a new cookie recipe, based off how much my Substack readers loved my Salted Olive Oil Oat Biscuits, and of course, I needed something easy to make given how fatigued I still was. I figured those of you who are currently equally floor by fatigue/POTS/endo would also appreciate a quick cookie recipe too.
I am so impressed by how well these cookies came together and how easy they were to make. The recipe gods were on my side. I tested them a few more times to make sure it wasn’t just a fluke, but no - this recipe delivered every time.
These cookies have a slightly crisp outside and soft interior, and give you such a satisfying bite. And to top it off, they’re made purely with whole food ingredients and come with some serious nutritional benefits!
These Olive Oil Dark Chocolate Chip cookies are…
Gluten free to help minimise symptoms and reactions in certain endo folk.
Whilst not everyone with endometriosis needs to go gluten free or entirely gluten free (some people feel better just not eating it that often), reducing gluten may help some of us manage our pain and endo belly symptoms.
In a major and recent survey study of 2388 endometriosis patients, out of those who removed or reduced gluten, 45% experienced a reduction in pain. In another study, 75% of patients had a significant reduction in painful symptoms after eliminating gluten for 12 months. There is also a significant association between endometriosis and coeliac disease. And whilst the research on endometriosis and gluten has limitations, I myself experienced improvements by reducing gluten in my diet (in fact, it was one of the key players for helping me live a normal life again no longer ruled by pain and my periods), as have many of my clients (though not all, it’s very individual).
If you’d like to learn more about why gluten may impact some of us with endo and how, my Nutrition Masterclass dives into all the science, and you can also check out my podcast episodes like this one.
Are made with fibre rich whole food ingredients, are sweetened only with fruit, and contain olive oil, to help stabilise blood sugar.
Most shop bought cookies, or even the classic cookies we make at home, are made with easy to digest starches and sugars like flour, and sugar. Even the healthier versions still use easy to digest sugars such as maple sugar and coconut sugar, and whilst some sugar, in moderation, is necessary for certain recipes and brings us joy and flavour, you know I am always looking for ways to choose more whole food, fibre rich and lower sugar options for us endo folk.
Why?
Because high sugar foods and processed foods can potentially contribute to more PMS, menstrual pain and endo pain. Blood sugar spikes increase oxidative stress, which leads to more inflammation in the body and that may trigger further pain and symptoms. In fact, oxidative stress is higher in people with endo, and it’s a key driver of endo growth.
I have focused on the presence of healthy fats, fibre and protein, which have all been shown to help stabilise blood sugar levels and slow down the uptake of glucose/starch from our food (chocolate, oats and dates, in this case) to our blood stream, preventing blood sugar spikes.
One of the easiest ways for us to support our blood sugar is to opt for whole food carbohydrates, such as whole oats, over refined carbohydrates, such as flour, as I have done here. Whole foods still contain their fibre, which helps slow down digestion and the resulting absorption of glucose to the blood stream, creating a steady drip rather than a flood.
Thanks to using whole foods, this has allowed for each cookie to be naturally high in protein (for a cookie). In fact, these cookies provide about 5g per cookie, versus 1g for your average gluten free cookie. Protein helps increase satiety, which means we feel more satisfied from one or two of these cookies, whereas the lack of protein and fibre in a regular pack of cookies, keeps us going back for more, resulting in a greater impact on blood sugar.
Another great way to support blood sugar with lower glycemic index foods, and every ingredient in this recipe is low to moderate on the glycemic index scale (some date types are moderate, others are low, otherwise every ingredient is low glycemic). The glycemic index is a tool that looks at foods and the impact they can have on your blood sugar, on a scale of 0-100. A high GI index would be 70 and above, a medium GI is 56-69 and a low GI index is 55 or less. High GI foods are very likely to spike your blood sugar levels and do so quickly, foods with a medium GI rating tend to cause a moderate rise and low GI foods tend to keep blood sugar levels stable and steady over time with a gentle rise. This is because low GI foods break down slowly in the gut because they are rich in fibre and slow release carbohydrates, this means that the release of glucose to the blood stream is slow and gradual.
Now, with that being said, the amount of that food you’re eating can have an affect too - and that’s called the glycemic load, which essentially takes into consideration the GI of the food and how many carbohydrates from that food you’re eating in one serving. Unless you’re really struggling with blood sugar or diabetes, you don’t really need to go down this rabbit hole - instead, it’s really just about moderation. Which leads me to…
Most dates have a low to moderate glycemic index and are rich in fibre, so they shouldn’t cause a dramatic or quick rise in blood sugar, especially compared to standard table sugar or maple syrup, typical cookie sweeteners.
However, research has shown that individual blood sugar responses vary from person to person, and if you eat a lot of even a low glycemic index food, it may have a greater impact on your blood sugar levels because you’re eating more in one sitting, as we just discussed. This recipe uses more dates than I typically use in a a recipe, and I’ve added some notes on that below, to take into account the variation in blood sugar responses. However, because this recipe is so rich in fibre, healthy fats and protein, sticking to the suggested serving size shouldn’t cause a blood sugar spike.
With all that being said, I deliberately used low-medium glycemic ingredients for this recipe, which means that each cookie has an (AI) estimated glycemic index of around 40 (low) and a glycemic load of around 10 (low). Even with two, the load creeps up to moderate, at about 20.
To further assist a healthy blood sugar response, I’ve used a generous amount of olive oil in these cookies, rather than butter. Research has shown that adding olive oil to meals reduces the post-prandial blood sugar levels (meaning it helps prevent blood sugar spikes from foods/meals), even in high glycemic meals (meaning meals/foods high in sugar or starch that can cause rapid blood sugar spikes). The studied amount used was 10g, and each cookie provides 7.5g, which should have a positive impact given that we’re using olive oil with just a cookie, not an entire meal!
So, why else would we want to support blood sugar?
Constant blood sugar swings can take their toll on hormones, leading to issues like elevated androgens (think testosterone), which can affect ovulation and cycle length. Blood sugar swings may also cause oestrogen excess or dominance and low progesterone if ovulation is interrupted or stopped entirely. Both of these imbalances can cause more PMS, heavier periods, and may also exacerbate endometriosis symptoms.
Additionally, these cookies can help us out with luteal phase cravings. When we’re in our luteal phase, we often experience more blood sugar swings because oestrogen, which dominates in our follicular phase, helps us to regulate our blood sugar response, but is lower in the luteal phase. As a result, we tend to get cravings for sweet foods or foods high in starch, such as cookies! The problem is, these foods keep us on a blood sugar rollercoaster, and raise inflammation levels, resulting in more of those inflammatory symptoms and pain that we’re trying to avoid. These cookies, being low in sugar and rich in fibre, can help us get our fix without the pain triggering spikes.
Finally, blood sugar swings are linked heavily with mood disorders such as depression and anxiety, so if you struggle with low moods in your luteal phase, supporting blood sugar can actually support your mental health.
Rich in polyphenols from the olive oil, chocolate and dates to help heal the endo belly and reduce systemic inflammation.
Polyphenols are where extra virgin olive oil really shines. Polyphenols are types of antioxidants found in certain plant foods that not only reduce inflammation levels and improve overall health, but they are also an absolute favourite food for our gut microbiome, which means that can support our good gut bugs to thrive.
Polyphenols can be found in various plant foods, and are in high amounts in cacao and dates, but olive oil is known particularly for its polyphenol benefits. In fact, dark chocolate and olive oil are amongst the top 100 highest polyphenol containing foods.
The anti-inflammatory effects of extra virgin olive oil, thanks to its polyphenol content, are far reaching. For example, research has shown that extra virgin olive oil can decrease C-Reactive Protein levels, a marker for inflammation.
Research is finding a strong correlation between microbiome disturbances and endometriosis development, such as reduced levels and variety of good gut bugs and higher levels of pathogenic (bad, infectious), opportunistic (in high numbers, can cause problems like inflammation) gut bugs, as well as gut bugs linked to elevated oestrogen levels. These microbiome differences have also been associated with higher IL-8 levels, a type of inflammatory cytokine shown to be involved in the development of endometriosis.
Polyphenols are like gut bug boosters - the more we provide to our good gut bugs, the more they grow and outnumber the bad guys. This helps to bring the gut back into harmony, which can improve gut symptoms and intestinal inflammation and whilst we need to do more research, could even help us fight endo.
Supercharged with powerful antioxidants to help lower oxidative stress and inflammation.
Dark chocolate, extra virgin olive oil, dates and vanilla are all significant sources of antioxidants.
Antioxidants are types of plant compounds that fight oxidative stress - in the simplest terms, oxidative stress is a chemical reaction in the body that when high, causes inflammation and significant damage. People with endo have been found to have lower levels and lower intake of certain antioxidants, with higher levels of circulating oxidative stress and oxidative stress markers in the peritoneal fluid (fluid in the pelvic area). In fact, oxidative stress is a key player in endometriosis development and progression, but the good news is, research has shown we can actually modulate these inflammatory markers and pathways through nutrition and food.
Rich in hormone and endo supportive vitamins and minerals.
Amongst several other micronutrients (there are so many goodies in this!), these cookies are high in vitamin E, magnesium, zinc and iron to name a few.
A recent meta-analysis of over 589 participants, concluded that vit E supplementation can reduce period pain, pain with sex, daily pelvic pain and even improve quality of life with endometriosis patients. And a systematic review and meta-analysis of eight studies and over 1000 people concluded that vitamin E significantly reduced period pain and could be used as a treatment for dysmennorhea. But it’s not just supplements that help - food helps too! One study found people with endo had a 40% reduced intake of vitamin E, but levels increased after following a high antioxidant diet, and oxidation levels reduced by 20%!
Research has shown magnesium to be an effective treatment in preventing dysmenorrhea (period pain) because it reduces inflammatory prostaglandins that are the drivers of both endo and period pain. One study showed that six months of magnesium treatment reduced prostaglandin F2a by over half! In fact, in recent research, magnesium is being explored as a dietary treatment for endo and a higher intake of magnesium rich foods was associated with a lower risk of endo. Additionally, magnesium helps to regulate our sex hormones, and as result, is a recognised treatment for preventing PMS.
Low levels of zinc have been linked to endo, and research has shown it can significantly reduce period pain thanks to its anti-inflammatory benefits. It additionally supports follicle development and ovulation, while deficiency has been linked to infertility.
Finally, iron deficiency is extremely common in general, but even more so in people with heavy menstrual bleeding. Iron plays a major role in preventing fatigue, and yet many of the clients who I work with, come to me with significantly low levels due to having SIBO, avoiding red meat, heavy periods or other reasons. Supporting healthy iron absorption and intake is a key part of beating endo fatigue and recovering from heavy blood loss and low levels can cause brain fog, extreme tiredness, heart palpitations, dizziness, muscle weakness and depression to name a few.
Important notes to help you tailor this recipe to your own body and needs (and tastebuds!)
Blood sugar modifications
As you can see from the above, I’ve taken efforts to keep these cookies traditional yet blood sugar supportive.
However, to keep these cookies simple to make, I skipped my usual viscous fibre that I add to biscuit and cookie recipes to help significantly slow down the release of glucose to the blood stream. Foods rich in vicious fibre like flax and chia are fantastic for so many reasons, but they often require you to really change a recipe in order to mask their flavour (as they can be quite strong) and keep the mix from being to dry or too chewy, which can happen with the studied therapeutic serving sizes I use in my recipes. To add flax to this recipe, which I would love to do, would have required a lot more energy and time from me than I had given my recent sickness, and likely more ingredients and flavourings too, like nut butters. Plus, I have plenty of flax based cookie recipes, like this one, this one and this one. I wanted these cookies to be a bit more traditional in their ingredients, whilst still being a healthier, whole food version that benefits blood sugar and living with endo.
Having said that, due to the oats and dates, these cookies are carb heavy, and as I said earlier, people’s blood sugar responses vary. If you feel these do spike you, keep to one cookie per serve, and you could also consider added ground flax seed or chia and seeing how you get on. I haven’t tried this yet, but it’s worth giving a go. I would first begin with 1 tbsp and see how that goes, then try increasing to two.
You could also increase the olive oil by a tbsp, which would give you the evidenced-based amount of olive oil (10g) per cookie, and therefore could support blood sugar further.
Finally, you could also swap a portion of the oats for ground almonds or sunflower seeds, to reduce the carb load, or reduce the dates to 50g instead of 75g, but I don’t know how well the dough would bind with less dates.
Keeping these cookies low FODMAP
One cookie keeps well within low FODMAP ranges for oats, dates and dark chocolate. Egg yolks, olive oil and vanilla extract/beans do not contain FODMAPS and can be eaten in high amounts.
Two cookies would take you just over the limit of low FODMAP for dates, moving this into moderate serving sizes, so you could see how you respond as you may be fine, or you could divide the dough into eight or 10 cookies instead of six, which would allow you to have more cookies per serve without hitting moderate FODMAP serving sizes.
Making these egg free
I haven’t tried making this recipe without the egg yolk, which is one of the key binders, but you could try adding one or two flax eggs and seeing how they come out. I would start with one flax egg, and seeing how that goes, and if the dough doesn’t bind well enough, add another. If it works for you, let me know!
Further resources
If you’re struggling with your endo nutrition or gut health, you might find my courses and one to one coaching helpful. You can find out more here. I’ve also got endless podcast episodes on endometriosis and SIBO.
olive oil and dark chocolate oat cookies
Ingredients:
150g rolled oats
75g dates (any sticky, plump, chewy variety, though you may want to choose based on blood sugar impact, see above)
30g 90% dark chocolate, roughly chopped (you can go for 85%, I just prefer to go with 90% as it’ less sugar)
2 egg yolks
3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
2 tsps water
1 tsp vanilla extract or pinch of vanilla powder or 1/2 a vanilla bean
makes: 6 cookies
prep time: 15 minutes
bake time: 10-11 mins
chill time: 30 mins
Method:
Preheat your oven to 180c (fan assisted), if you’d prefer a crisper cookie, you can go to 185c but you’ll need to remove them earlier to prevent burning. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
If your dates feel dry or hard, soak them in hot water for five-ten minutes to soften.
Meanwhile, pulse the oats in a food processor until it’s mainly a course flour with a few small broken flakes remaining.
Add the dates and pulse again until a crumbly, clumpy dough starts to form.
Add the remaining ingredients except for the chocolate and turn the food processor to full to combine well. A sticky dough should form that holds together when pressed, though it may seem crumbly on first appearance, until you handle it. If it really is too crumbly and won’t hold, add an extra tsp or two of water, but be careful because too much water will make the cookies bready by over hydrating the dough.
Scatter the chocolate throughout and fold in.
Divide into six even portions (I found this to be about an ice cream scoop size) and flatten onto the baking tray into a chunky cookie of about 1cm to 1.5cm thickness (though you can go thiner and wider if you’d like a crisper cookie).
Bake on the middle shelf for 10-11 minutes until golden brown, watch for burning and remove earlier if they appear to be darkening too quickly.
Remove to a cooling rack and leave to cool for 30 minutes - they’ll still be a bit crumbly when hot, so it’s better to wait for them to cool down, but it’s up to you!