Almond Butter Cookies

Yesterday was the first day of fall, cool, wet and not so nice, rather a disappointment really considering it is my favorite time of year. However if I look at the upside, it was the perfect weather to come home, put on the comfies, grab a hot cup of tea and bake some cookies.

I’m hoping this weekend to clean out the cupboards somewhat, which means creating a few items from odds and ends that I have kicking around. As I’m always looking for a “healthier” version of things, last nights cookies were no exception.

Now, as soon as you see the word “cookie” you can ignore the word “healthy”, however I did make a “healthier” version of the average peanut butter cookie and used up my almond butter and carob chips:

Almond Butter Cookies
1 cup organic almond butter (raw, unsweetened)
½ cup sugar *
1 egg
¼ cup carob chips (optional, simply had these on hand)

Cream together the almond butter and sugar, add the egg and carob chips, mix thoroughly.

Drop by teaspoonfuls on a cookie sheet (I use a baking mat on mine) and bake at 325 for 15 minutes or until slightly brown (darker than they started).

Note: * I used turbinado sugar (would have used sucanet but was out)

These cookies are great in that they do not contain any flour, therefore are gluten free. They are high in protein as well which helps to balance out the sugar.

A few nutritional tidbits:

• Almonds, although high in fat and calories, are packed full of goodness! They contain “good fat”, as well as antioxidants, protein, fibre and vitamin E.
• Almonds are much lower in saturated fats than peanuts.
• When purchasing nuts, it is important to purchase good quality nuts as they have a high fat content, which means they need to be protected from becoming rancid. Raw, unsalted nuts are the best, even better if they are still in their own shell. Nut should be stored in a cool dark place in a sealed container. They will keep longer in the fridge or freezer.
• Turbinado sugar is less refined than your typical white sugar, whereas Sucanet is unrefined sugar. Both turbinado and sucanet contain more nutrients than white sugar and have not gone through the same processing. Sucanet is my preferred of the three as it is closer to its most natural form and higher in nutrients, however it is all still sugar and should be used in moderation.

The texture of these cookies is a little more crumbly than ones made with regular peanut butter, however turned out super yummy!

Enjoy the weekend!