almond butter cookies

My inspiration for this weeks recipe came from the adorable girl I nanny. This week she whipped up a batch of peanut butter cookies all by herself, and they were delicious. Then while my mom and I were shopping at our favorite place (Target---duh!), she came up with the idea to substitute almond butter for the peanut butter.

For those of you who haven't had almond butter before, I highly recommend trying it. I was recently introduced to almond butter by my sister, and I can't believe I have been missing out on the delicious food for so long.

Ingredients (makes about 3.5 dozen cookies)

- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

- 1 cup almond butter

- 3/4 cup sugar

- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

- 1 egg

- 1 tbsp. milk (I used almond milk)

- 1 tsp. vanilla extract

- 1 & 1/4 cups flour

- 3/4 tsp. baking soda

- 1/2 tsp. baking powder

- 1/4 tsp. salt

- 1/2 cup sliced almonds

...spot my helper!

How to make it

- preheat oven to 350

- combine 1 stick of softened butter & 1 cup of almond butter in a medium bowl and mix until smooth

- add 3/4 cup sugar & 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar to butter mixture and mix until combined

- add egg, 1 tbsp. milk, and 1 tsp. vanilla to butter mixture, mix until well combined and set aside

- in a separate bowl combine 1 & 1/4 cups flour, 3/4 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. baking powder, and 1/4 tsp. salt

- add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix until combined (do not over mix)

- mix in 1/2 cup sliced almonds, set dough aside

- line baking sheet with parchment paper

- create 1 inch dough balls and place on parchment, with enough space between cookies to allow room for spreading (I usually cook 12 cookies at a time on an 11x15 baking sheet)

- using a fork, flatten the dough balls by indenting a criss cross pattern

- sprinkle sugar on top of each of the flattened dough balls

- bake cookies in oven for 10-12 min

- remove from oven and let cool before enjoying

Finished product

For next time...

There isn't really anything I would change about this recipe. That being said, I think I will bake the cookies closer to 10 min rather than 12 min next time because I like a softer cookie.

Variations

You could substitute the almond butter in this recipe for any other type of nut butter (peanut butter, cashew butter, hazelnut butter). Also, you could leave the sliced almonds out of the recipe, or substitute another mix in such as chocolate chips. If you want to skip the step of sprinkling sugar on top, I'm sure the cookies would be just as yummy.

All in all

These cookies are delish. I would seriously make them again just to eat the dough...yes, I know that is frowned upon. My mom and I usually stick to pretty basic cookie recipes including chocolate chip cookies and ginger snaps, but this will definitely be one of my new staple cookie recipes. Happy Thursday friends...Enjoy :)