national cookie day: almond butter chocolate chip cookies

Happy National Cookie Day! I only found out about this day from my Pilates work out calendar, and apparently December is full of national food days...until I did my research and found an entire list of American holidays. According to this list almost every single day of the year celebrates a different food, offering plenty of chances to try new recipes. It'd probably be super fun--and challenging--testing a recipe a day in honor of each national food day, but I'd probably also end up with way too much food. I still have a ton of leftover marshmallows and graham crackers that I'm slowly consuming over the course of the week...portion control...I'm trying...

I've baked cookies with coconut flour before, but none as successful as these almond butter chocolate chip cookies. Most of the cookies I have made using coconut flour were too dense and quite mushy, and weren't worthy of blogging (sorry). Luckily I made good cookies today in honor of national cookie day :) I added the chocolate chips as an afterthought, you can tell they were pressed down onto the cookie dough rounds rather than thoroughly mixed in with the batter. They almost look like the fake plastic cookies you find in toddler kitchen play sets.

If you've never baked with coconut flour, I highly suggest you try it! Coconut flour is a gluten-free, high-fiber, high-protein, and low-calorie alternative to other baking flours. It is rather dense and absorbent, so you don't use as much as you would other flours, but you may need a lot more liquid ingredients than what would appear "normal". I once found a recipe that called for 10 eggs in proportion to very little coconut flour. It scared me a little bit but I got used to the crazy ratios after I started using coconut flour more and more.

Debut of one of my new silicone baking mats

Well, happy national cookie day everyone! Good night :)


Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from The Prudent Wife
yields about 16 cookies 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup almond butter
1/4 cup olive oil 
4 eggs
3/4 cup almond milk (or soy milk, rice milk, etc)
1 tbs vanilla extract
4 tbs honey
1 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

- Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs thoroughly until frothy. Then add in the almond butter, olive oil, almond milk, vanilla extract, and honey and combine.
- In a separate bowl, combine the coconut flour and salt, then sift it with the wet ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Add in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop the batter onto the baking sheet by the tablespoonful. Using the back of your spoon, press and round out the batter on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove, cool and serve.