Flourless Chocolate Chip Almond Butter Cookies

When I was a teenager, my doctors suggested that I go gluten-free to help my sinuses.  I was extremely reluctant to do so, but as a rule and parent abiding child (AKA a boring goody two shoes), my mom said I should try it and I did. And for about a year, I desperately craved a McDonalds cheeseburger.  It is a very sad moment in the drive-thru when your sister gets a happy meal with a burger and fries and you get a Caesar salad.  Without croutons.  Cue sad trumpet. I went gluten free long before it became mainstream, which means I ate some weird stuff.  Grey pasta, bread that got gooey if not eaten soon enough, and crumbly cookies.  My poor mom went through a lot to make me some good gluten free food, but it was tough back then and required lots of long trips to many different speciality stores. So for this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I was exited to get Chelsy’s blog Mangia.  I was ready to try some of my more up-to-date gluten free, paleo, and vegan recipes.  It had to be better than gray pasta, right? After browsing through her recipes, I knew I had to try a dessert.  And I decided to make cookies since I was at home with my family for vacation, and they are cookie-crazy here. I am a nut butter lover, so when I saw Chelsy’s Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies, I knew I had a winner.  I made some modifications by subbing almond butter for peanut butter since my sister is allergic and adding in some chocolate chips because everyone loves chocolate chips in cookies. These cookies were great- chewy on the inside and crunchy on the edges.  I think some other great add ins would be almonds, toffee pieces, or raisins. These cookies are just as good as that first bite of a McDonald’s cheeseburger after going gluten-free for a year.  Mmm.

FLOURLESS ALMOND BUTTER COOKIES Adapted from Mangia

INGREDIENTS

1 cup almond butter 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Pinch of salt 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a bowl combine almond butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar.  Mix together until creamy.  Whisk in egg, vanilla extract, and salt.  Fold in chocolate chips. Place rounded tablespoon size balls of dough on prepared baking sheets.  Flatten with spoon.  Bake for 9-11 minutes, until golden brown around edges.  Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes.  Finish cooling on wire racks.  Store in air tight container. Makes 1 1/2 dozen cookies.