Almond butter snickerdoodle

This week's menu:
Monday: Penne primavera with goat cheese souffle cups
Tuesday: Soba noodles with spicy tuna and california rolls
Wednesday: Thai pineapple fried rice with roasted cauliflower and soy aioli
Thursday: Fried trout sandwich with tartar sauce and pasta salad

Today's lunch was nothing too special so I decided to make an extra special dessert: almond butter snickerdoodles! Now this aren't just regular snickerdoodles, o no. They have a great subtle nutty taste from the homemade almond butter that only involves one ingredient: almonds!

Almond Butter Snickerdoodles

Recipe from Cooking Light

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup (about 3 ounces) 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 tbsp smooth almond butter

1 tsp grated lemon rind

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

4.75 ounces white whole-wheat flour (about 1 cup)

1.5 ounces whole-wheat flour (about 1/3 cup)

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, divided

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp granulated sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Place first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl and beat with a mixer at high speed until well combined (about 2 minutes). Add rind, vanilla, and egg yolks; beat until well blended.
4. Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, baking soda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and salt; stir with a whisk. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; beat at low speed until well combined. Drop half of dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet. Combine remaining 1 tsp cinnamon and granulated sugar in a small bowl; sprinkle half of cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over cookies. Bake at 350 degrees for 6 minutes; flatten cookies with back of a spatula. Bake an additional 6 minutes. Cool on pans 1 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool on wire racks. Repeat procedure with remaining dough and sugar mixture. 

Nutritional Analysis:
per serving (one cookie): 104 calories, 3.8g  fat (1.9g saturated, 0.3g polyunsaturated, 1.2g monounsaturated), 16.2g carbohydrates, 0.5g fiber, 1.6g protein

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

Making almond butter only involves almonds and a food processor. Nuts have natural oils and fats in them that when processed, the oils are released and turns the nuts into a butter. 

To help release the oil, toast 1 1/2 cup almonds (can be whole or sliced) in the oven at 350 degrees F for 7 minutes or until golden brown. 

Place the nuts into a food processor and process for about 15 minutes or until the the almonds have become a smooth paste. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically. 1 1/2 cup of almonds yields about 3/4 cup almond paste. 

Once you have your almond butter, proceed with the recipe to make the cookies. You can also use cashew butter or peanut butter instead. 

You can choose to use regular cream cheese; the outcome should be the same, you just can't rely on the nutrition facts anymore. I also used all-purpose flour for both flours instead. 

When flattening the cookies after baking for 6 minutes, use a fork to make a crisscross design. 

These cookies are amazingly soft and chewy. Even after one week (I know I'm surprise they lasted that long too) they were still just as soft and chewy as the first day. The snickerdoodles have a subtle almond taste, slightly nutty, slightly toasted, while still delivering the cinnamon sugar flavor of snickerdoodles. They may not be the prettiest, but the flavor still delivers!

Save any leftover almond butter you have to spread on toast, dip with fruit, or make other desserts!