I love hibiscus tea! In fact, I've been drinking it all winter. But now that the sun is shining and the temperatures are rising, I'm not really in the mood for hot beverages anymore. Instead of shoving the box back into a corner until colder days, I decided to turn it into a refreshing summer drink! In this recipe I've added some green tea just for a little pick me up. Feel free to experiment with different teas (black, white, etc..) or just make it with only hibiscus for a caffeine free version.

Make a couple batches to bring to your next summer get together -- it's guaranteed to be a big hit! 

Hibiscus Green Tea

• 3 bags of green tea (buy online)
• 4 bags of hibiscus tea (buy online)
• Juice of 1 lemon*
• 3-4 teaspoons of raw honey* (buy online)
• 7 mugs of filtered water*

( * = see notes below )

1. Boil your 7 mugs of water. I use 2 different pots (4 mugs in one pot, 3 mugs in the other). You could boil all your water in one pot -- I'm just weird. :)
2. Once water is boiling, shut off heat and steep tea bags. 
3. While the water is still warm, add in your raw honey. 
4. Let tea cool down. Add in your lemon juice.
5. Pour into a glass pitcher (like this one) and refrigerate. 

After the tea has chilled, enjoy it over ice! :)

NOTES:

• The amount of lemon you use is dependant on your taste. I like 1 juiced lemon in mine. You can add more, less or omit. 
• The amount of honey you use is dependant on your taste. I like 4 teaspoons in mine. You can add more, less or omit.
• When I'm making tea, I measure my water by "mugs." 1 regular coffee mug is the ideal size to brew 1 tea bag in. 1 mug of water = 1 tea bag. 

I was shopping at Zerbo's today.. getting some supplies I needed for my Christmas presents (there will be a blog post about the gifts after the holidays. I don't want to ruin the surprise) and while I was doing this I had chocolate chip cookies on the brain. It's been a longgggggg time since I've had some chocolate chip cookies and I decided I needed to put an end to that today. 

As I was making my way up and down the aisles, I noticed a bag of einkorn flour on a shelf. I've been wanting to try out einkorn flour for awhile now and the bag was calling my name. 

I had never worked with einkorn flour before, so I wasn't really sure how to use it. From what I understand, it's pretty much like using any other all purpose flour. Just to be sure, I did a quick Google search to find a chocolate chip cookie recipe that used einkorn. I found one that looked really great and simple. I just had to make one tiny adjustment.. The original recipe calls for brown sugar. I did not have any, so I figured coconut sugar would be a great sub. I only had 2/4 cup of coconut sugar (the recipe calls for 3/4 cup of sugar) so I had to add in 1/4 cup of white sugar (I use this kind). Next time I make these I will use all coconut sugar. 

Einkorn Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies (original recipe here)

• 8 tbsp. butter, softened (local grassfed pasture butter is best. I don't have access to that right now so I am using Organic Valley pasture butter)
  
• ¾ cup coconut sugar (buy online)
  
• ½ tsp. real salt (buy online)
  
• ½ tsp baking soda (buy online)
  
• 1 large egg (I use eggs from Creswick Farms)
  
• ½ tsp. vanilla (buy online)
  
• ¾ cup chocolate chips (buy online)
  
• 1¾ cups einkorn flour (buy online)
  

I used my stand mixer for the following steps:

1. Cream your butter, sugar, salt and baking soda. 
2. Add your egg and vanilla to the creamed mixture.. mix until emulsified. 
3. Mix in chocolate chips, gently. (This step was not excluded from being done in my mixer. I just did it on speed 1.)
4. Sift flour before you measure, then mix until fully incorporated. 

Cookie dough will be placed on an ungreased cookie sheet. My cookie sheet isn't so pretty, so I use parchment paper.
You can use a tablespoon or a cookie scoop to measure out and place your cookie dough. I use my hands, roll into balls, set on sheet and press down lightly. Space 1 inch apart.

Place your cookies in a 325°F oven. Bake for 13-15 minutes (rotate half way through). Cookies are done when the edges and bottom are a very light golden brown. I like chewy cookies.. so I'm careful not to bake them *too* much. :)

Let cool for 5 minutes, or shove them in your face straight from the oven.. that's what we did, cause ain't nobody got time for that.

Don't forget to enjoy with a tall glass of milk.. preferably raw. :)