Almond Butter Dark Chocolate Cookies

  Rainy days are made for baking cookies… and eating cookies. Or to be exact, eating three cookies in a row plucked straight from the still hot baking tray. What…no, I would never do that! I always wait patiently for the cookies to cool before stuffing them in my mouth. Ha! Yeah right, I mean does anyone wait? Seriously, the person who can resist devouring cookies still warm from the oven is clearly a better person than me. There’s just something about the thrill of burning my fingertips on gooey melted chocolate and the roof of my mouth on piping hot dough that I simply can’t resist. Come on, what’s a few burned fingers when what you get in exchange is mouthful of amazing almond butter cookie mixed with a generous bite of dark chocolate? Clearly the reward far outweighs the sacrifice.These cookies did a fine job of brightening up what was otherwise a dreary rainy day. They also gave me an excuse to try out a new kind of sugar I recently discovered. It’s called Coconut Sugar and is made from the sap which drips from coconut flower blossoms! Pretty cool huh? This is a traditional sweetener that’s been used for years in southeast Asia. The process for making the sugar sounds similar to how we make maple syrup. A little cut is made in the blossom from which the sap flows out and is collected in bamboo containers. The sap is then heated over a long period of time during which the moisture evaporates until a thick paste forms. Sometimes you can find coconut sugar sold in this paste-like form, but it seems that the most common type has been cooked even further until it becomes a granulated sugar.This is the type I bought. It looks kind of like a cross between turbinado and brown sugar. Coconut sugar tastes pretty similar to plain white cane sugar except that is has a hint of caramel flavor reminiscent of brown sugar. I think you could successfully use it as a substitute for either white or light brown sugar. There’s several reasons why coconut sugar is all the rage these days. First, because it’s minimally processed (especially the brands labeled organic) and contains no additives or bleaching products. Second, it has trace amounts of minerals like zinc and iron. And third, it boasts a low glycemic index which is a safer alternative for those with diabetes because it doesn’t cause such a rapid spike in blood sugar. Of course, like every product that claims to be a “healthier” sweetener there are questions popping up about the true nature of this sugar and just how low the glycemic index really is. It’s my opinion that all sugars should be used sparingly regardless of what the GI number is, but what really draws me to coconut sugar is the fact that it hasn’t been processed to death or treated with bleach and other nasty things that I would rather not put in my body. For that same reason my favorite sweeteners lately have been honey and maple syrup. The problem is that it can sometimes be hard to use these liquid sweeteners in recipes that call for dry sugar. In these cases coconut sugar seems like a great alternative.

Speaking of maple syrup…I couldn’t resist including just a little. I suspected that the maple flavor would be the perfect compliment to the almond butter and the teaspoon of cinnamon that I added. Guess what? I was right.
This was my first time making almond butter cookies. Well, actually my second time because the first batch, while tasty, came out with a texture more like cake than a cookie. The solution was more butter-like twice as much butter. I had this theory in my head that since I was including almond butter I could use less regular butter. Not true. Almond butter does not act the same as butter made from a dairy product, at least not in these cookies. The almond butter has a very mild flavor- in fact, I couldn’t detect any almond flavor in these cookies at all. There is a slight nutty taste that is sooo good along with the cinnamon and maple flavors. This amazing combo makes these cookies pretty irresistible in my book. I also added lots of chocolate chips…because I could.
These are lumpy looking cookies that don’t spread much as you bake them. I smashed the first batch down with a fork like you would with traditional peanut butter cookies, but for this batch I decided to leave them as is in all their lumpy glory. If you want a thinner cookie go ahead and give them the fork treatment but be sure to reduce the baking time by a few minutes. Yum!

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Chocolate-Peppermint Swirl Cookies

Cookie time! I wouldn’t normally make cookies two weeks in a row, but it is the holidays after all. Also, after last week’s cooking mishaps I had to redeem myself somehow. It’s true that I had my heart set on making those pesky candied grapefruit peels for holiday gifts, but since the result was nothing short of disastrous I decided to go back to something I know I can make- cookies!
Let me tell you, this recipe did not disappoint. I mean really how could it? Anything that combines melted chocolate with crushed candy canes is bound to be amazing. Chocolate and peppermint is not only a super delicious combination of sweet and sweeter, but something about it just screams holiday time- perfect for cookies that I want to give as gifts. I’ve made other variations of these swirl cookies in the past and I have to say that this one wins the prize. The recipe that inspired this cookie is Martha Stewart’s Chewy Coconut-Chocolate Pinwheels. These cookies were part of my holiday baking line-up for many years and while they are pretty tasty, next to this new version they’re down right boring! The addition of crushed candy canes in the sugar cookie dough creates a cookie that manages to pull off both a chewy and crunchy texture at the same time. Combine this with a thick gooey layer of melted chocolate and you have a winner.

Despite their impressive appearance, these cookies are actually quite simple to make. The hands on baking time is pretty short, but you do need to chill the dough twice so don’t try and make these an hour before you want to bring them to a party. I’ve even made you a handy step-by-step photo guide (my first ever) to walk you through the process- happy baking!

Start by crushing the candy canes…I used a hammer wrapped in plastic

Make the dough – I love the colorful bits of cane mixed in there

Roll out the dough and trim the edges to form a rectangle

While the dough is chilling melt some chocolate…try not to eat it out of the bowl!

Spread the chocolate on the chilled dough

Rolllll it up….

Wrap the cookie log and chill again

Slice and bake

Fresh out of the oven

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Gingersnap Raspberry Sandwich Cookies

Ginger and raspberry- I can’t imagine a better combination. If you like sweet, and you like spicy, then this is the cookie for you. I have been making these Martha inspired cookies for quite a few years and they are always met with glowing reviews and requests for more. That’s why when I signed up for the Great Blogger Cookie Swap hosted by Lindsey of Love & Olive Oil and Julie of The Little Kitchen I knew these were the cookies to make. The way the swap works is pretty simple. I was matched up with three food bloggers and sent them a dozen cookies each. In return, I received a dozen cookies from three different food bloggers. This is the second year of the swap and it appears that is was quite a success. Over 700 food bloggers signed up to participate and they estimated that around 22,000 cookies were sent out to bloggers around the world!

Here are my cookies all packaged up and ready to send. I think I enjoyed making the boxes as much as did making the cookies. I made handcrafted labels on fun paper for the outside of the box and a printed recipe card for the inside of the box.At first I wasn’t sure what we would do with the 3 dozen cookies that were coming in the mail. Would we share them with friends, give them to family members, put some away in the freezer for a later date? Ha ha! That last one’s pretty funny- I mean really, who saves cookies for later!? Turns out I didn’t need to worry. We received our first batch of cookies from April at Such a Delight and managed to devour them in under 24 hours. The second batch from Ashley and Josh of Josh & Ashley’s World, and the final batch from Latisha at Spiced with Love were treated with similar enthusiasm and before I could even think about sharing these with friends not a cookie was left. I shouldn’t have been surprised though because sweet treats have a way of disappearing around here. Have I mentioned that Mr.Thinly Sliced Cucumber has quite the sweet tooth? Good thing cookie swaps only happen once a year!

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