Imagine being a kid and hearing your mom say, “Don’t forget to eat your cookies, they’re good for your brain.”  Well you may not be a kid anymore and I’m obviously not your mom, but I’m going to tell you today about how our Ginger Molasses Cookies can help improve your memory (among many other symptoms as well).

What is Blood Deficiency

Blood, for the most part, is derived from the food we consume and digest.  The main functions of blood are to nourish and provide moisture to the body, while allowing the mind to feel sharp, grounded and relaxed.

Symptoms of Blood Deficiency, according to Chinese Medicine, include:

• poor memory
• pale lips, tongue, nails
• dry skin & hair
• hair loss
• dizziness
• blurry vision & eye floaters
• fatigue
• numbness in limbs
• infertility (usually related to a very light or absent menstruation)
• lack of self esteem
• insomnia
• anemia

Foods that Nourish the Blood

Most blood deficiencies will improve with the addition of animal protein and/or beans, iron rich foods (fruits, veggies, seaweed and micro-algae), leafy green veggies, and grains.  Consuming red foods, in Chinese food therapy, is thought to nourish the blood. 

Think iron rich foods (molasses, apricots, raisins, meat, beans, teff flour), green foods rich in chlorophyll (spirulina, kale, spinach, leafy greens), and red foods (beets, cherries, kidney beans).

These Cookies are Healing because of their Ingredients

Teff flour (a wonderful gluten free grain), molasses and coconut sugar are rich in iron; chia seeds and organic butter are nourishing oils (moistening to help build blood); and tapioca flour, ginger, cinnamon and cloves support our digestion (which means it better extracts nutrients to build new blood).

Ginger Molasses Cookies

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Dry:
1 ½ cups teff flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Teff Flour)
½ cup tapioca flour
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp sea salt

Wet:
½ cup organic unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup coconut palm sugar (or organic sugar)
1/3 cup organic molasses
2 tbsp ground chia seeds + 1/3 cup hot water (whisk together and let it sit for a minute)
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Preheat oven 350 degrees

Mixing Bowl 1:
Stir together dry ingredients: teff flour, tapioca flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking
soda, and salt until evenly combined.

Mixing Bowl 2:
Cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add in the molasses and sticky
chia mixture and stir until well combined.

Slowly stir in the dry mixture into the wet mixture, until a thick dough is achieved.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper drop the cookies by the spoonful (or roll into
1 inch balls) and bake in the oven for 12-14 minutes. Allow them to cool before eating, as they’ll be crumbly hot out of the oven.

I made these recently for my hubby’s birthday with some homemade vegan ice cream (cashew coconut milk ice cream recipe from my favourite book Nourishing Meals) and holy crap they were good!  Eating ice cold foods generally aren’t recommended in Yin Yang Diet (it’s impairs digestive functioning), but as a treat it’s okay.

Which Yin Yang Diet is Right for You

Check out our QUIZ to see what diet is best suited to you and your symptoms.  We are all unique and need different food requirements at different times to heal our body and mind.  Take the quiz HERE