QUICK ALMOND BUTTER COOKIES


I'm gonna be honest: I have an overwhelmingly large collection of cookbooks that are waiting for me to review. It's slightly embarrassing how much I procrastinate on this. In my own defence, I am usually too busy spending time coming up with recipes for this blog and my OWN cookbooks. There are only so many hours in the day, only so much room in my stomach, and only so much energy in my body for food and recipe creation. So generally by time I am done with my own work, trying out other people's recipes is not at the top of my to-do list. Having said that, it really should be. 

Because I love it. 

It gives me a break from having to being inventive and extra creative: adapting recipes from some of my fave bloggers and cookbook authors gives me freedom to experiment, but on a solid foundation of recipes that have already been developed. I know the recipes will turn out beautifully, taste wonderful, and be perfect for photographing since I have an idea of what they will look like before I begin. I have done several cookbook reviews on this blog already, but there is a seemingly bottomless pile of cookbooks I still would like to review; for myself and my own satisfaction, but of course for you as well. I very much enjoy sharing my favourite foods, recipes, products, companies, movies, podcasts and music with you, so why not cookbooks and their talented authors? What I am TRYING to say is that for how much I stall on reviewing cookbooks, I actually get a lot of happiness from it, so I will be doing more in the coming year. I hope you're okay with that!

All this talk brings me to today's post: a recipe for super easy and delicious almond butter cookies from a new cookbook I am loving. It's called 15 Minute Vegan and it's written by Katy Beskow, aka Little Miss Meat Free. The food photography - a huge part of why I love certain cookbooks! - is by Dan Jones. The design is fresh, accessible and minimalist, and the book is full of quick plant-based recipes for when you're in need of tasty sustenance in under an hour. The recipe for Almond Butter Morning Cookies was calling to me as I flipped through the book recently, so I finally went ahead and tried it out. I have adapted it slightly because I don't think it's physically possible for me to ever follow a recipe exactly as it's written. Nonetheless, it turned out just like it looks in the book, and I couldn't be happier. Thanks to how basic and quick these cookies are to make, I reckon the recipe will become a regular part of my morning routine (UPDATE: it has). They are filling and loaded with toasty, roasty almond flavour, which I personally can't get enough of... #HealthyFatsHello. Don't expect a super rich and sweet, chewy cookie, though; these are all about stripping down to nutritious basics, and focusing on the nutty notes. 

P.S. You can buy Katy's cookbook here.

Enjoy, lovelies! 
XO, em


QUICK ALMOND BUTTER COOKIES
Makes 4 cookies
Adapted from a recipe in 15 Minute Vegan by Katy Beskow

Cookies:
4 tablespoons gluten-free rolled oats
3 tablespoons almond butter
3 tablespoons almond milk
2 tablespoons chopped dark chocolate (or dark chocolate chips)
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon lightly toasted almond slivers (optional)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch sea salt
Pinch stevia powder (optional)

Garnish:
2 tablespoons lightly toasted almond slivers

1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Stir together all the ingredients until you have a wet dough that you can roughly shape. If it's too wet, add more ground flax seeds. If it's too dry/crumbly, add more almond butter or coconut oil.

3. Shape into cookies or balls (I prefer a hybrid of the two, and use an ice cream to shape them). Bake for 9-11 minutes or until they are JUST starting to get golden on top. Let cool for 5 minutes.

4. Serve with almond slivers on top. Great with a cup of almond milk or or hot chocolate. These would probably be delicious with some chia jam or extra almond butter as well.

NOTES:
- You can leave these raw! Just shape 'em into cookies and leave in the fridge for a couple hours. Equally delish. 
- You can use hemp seeds, coconut flour, almond flour, or flax seeds instead of almond slivers in the cookies; any other non-dairy milk for almond milk; and any other nut or seed butter instead of almond butter. 
- These have *very* little sweetness, so if you prefer things on the sweeter side, add some maple syrup, or sweetened chocolate chips.
- If you'd like the cookies less crumbly, add more coconut oil, and/or mashed banana.