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Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

15 Mar

Friday Indulgences…

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I love Fridays. Even more than I love Saturdays. No homework for my kids (I really don’t like homework). I don’t usually cook dinner (unless it’s really easy). And cocktail hour begins at 5:00 sharp! I also feel like every Friday is a mini celebration. A celebration that the weekend is beginning! I allow myself an extra treat or two and I may not eat the healthiest of dinners. I have been known to eat absurdly large burritos or a bit more pizza than I should. I make up for it all during the week with lots of green smoothies!

That leads me to these cookies…

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I was craving an extra yummy chocolatey treat so I thought I would bake something. You really can’t beat a home made chocolate chip cookie, and I had everything to make some. I took a quick peak on line to see if there were any ideas for a little something different and found this recipe for chocolate chip cookies with almond butter. YUM! Thanks Lynda from TasteFood!

You won’t find a ton of baked goods on Juicy Bites, even though I love them. I’m just not a huge fan of the exactness involved in baking. I’m more of an experimental baker, and that doesn’t always yield good results. It did in the case of my Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies…those were good! You must pardon the pictures on that post though…it was back in the beginning days of Juicy Bites and they just don’t look as good as they tasted. I will have to update that post one of these days.

IMG_1290The almond butter adds more to the cookie than you would think. It gives it a rich and nutty flavor with out being over powering like peanut butter can be. Not that I have anything against peanut butter! It also does wonders for the texture of the cookie. I also added a bit of coconut for no other reason than because my son asked if we could put some in. I liked the addition, so I kept it in the recipe. You can leave it out if coconut isn’t your thing.

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I did have one little problem with these cookies…I couldn’t stop eating them! I have a weakness for anything involving chocolate.  I solved this problem by giving some away. Now that they are gone, I’m a little relieved, and a little sad :( .

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Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Slightly adapted from TasteFood!

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1  3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4  cup unsalted butter, softened (1  1/2 sticks)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup unsalted creamy almond butter
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl; set aside. Cream the butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix well. Mix in the almond butter and coconut until smooth. Add the flour and mix to combine, then stir in the chocolate. Refrigerate the batter for at least one hour. (Batter may be refrigerated for up to 24 hours – if you can wait that long).
Heat oven to 350 F. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough on baking sheets lined with parchment. Bake until light golden, about 14 minutes.

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Extra Yummy Banana Muffins

23 Aug

These healthy muffins have a little surprise inside…

This week both my boys were in camps that started early so I wanted a quick and healthy breakfast for them so we could get out the door on time. Muffins fit the bill perfectly so I whipped up a batch of these Banana “Surprise” Muffins with the over ripe bananas that I needed to use. I found a recipe for Banana-Buttermilk and Oat Muffins and tweaked it a little to add some extra health benefits as well as the “surprise” in the center. I added oats, flax, and whole wheat flour to amp up the nutritional benefits. I also subbed coconut oil for the vegetable oil in the recipe.

Surprise! The middle of these muffins have a delicious dollop of my favorite Chocolate Almond Butter. I love all the nut butters from Justin’s, but the chocolate ones are my favorite. They are full of real chocolate flavor without a lot of sugar.

http://bebalanced52.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/justins.jpg?w=490This stuff is good on just about anything, but in the middle of a banana muffin…it’s just dreamy!

All I did was fill the muffin cups 1/2 full with batter, then add a spoonful of the chocolate almond butter to the center before filling them up the rest of the way.

I’m really not much of a baker, but these tasty muffins are very easy to make!

So when breakfast time rolled around, I would pop one of these babies in the toaster oven for about 5 minutes which makes them a little warm and extra delicious. One of these with my Tropical Green Smoothie and you have a delicious, quick, and easy breakfast.

My boys really loved these and are asking when I will be making the next batch.

Banana Oat Muffins with a Chocolate Almond Butter Center

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 3/4 c whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup flax meal
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 c buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil or *coconut oil
  • 1 c mashed ripe bananas (I used 2 bananas)
  • Justin’s Chocolate Almond Butter (or nut butter of your choice)

*Note: If you use coconut oil, you may need to heat it up under warm water or in the microwave depending on the temperature. Coconut oil is solid at room temp, but mine was liquid due to some warm weather we were having. You also need to have your buttermilk and egg at room temp so that the coconut oil doesn’t solidify when you mix the wet ingredients together.
Method:

Preheat oven to 400 F and line your 12 cup muffin pan.

In a small bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. In a large bowl, whisk or beat the wet ingredients together. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stop as soon as you see the last bit of flour disappear. Do not over mix. Fill muffin cups 1/4 full with batter. Next add a teaspoon full (or more!) of chocolate nut butter, then add the remaining batter on top. Bake for 18 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Cool in tin for 5 minutes and then leave them to cool completely on a wire rack. Enjoy!

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Paleo Bread

30 Apr

Paleo Bread

I saw this recipe in a recent GOOP newsletter (Gwyneth Paltrow’s newsletter that I subscribe to). The issue was about “A Better Breakfast” and reducing the amount of sugar that you start your day with. I really do try to eat healthy and make the best choices I can but I struggle with the amount of sugar that is in everything I like to eat. Yogurts, cereals, and my nemesis…bread! I love having a piece of toast in the morning, but even a sprouted whole grain bread like Ezekiel bread doesn’t do me any favors. I am much better off with a bread free breakfast that has plenty of protein and heart healthy fats. That type of breakfast keeps me full all  morning and doesn’t leave me craving  carbs at my next meal. I am by NO means a non-carb eater. As you can see from my blog posts I love to cook whole grains and pasta. I’m just trying to start my day with the best option so that I can make better choices for the rest of the day. If I get my carb fix at dinner, at least I wasn’t eating them all day.

This bread was very simple to make in my food processor. It totally satisfies my morning toast craving. I will have a slice with almond butter and a berry and spinach smoothie – the perfect breakfast for me!

Here is the link to the newsletter about a better breakfast:

http://goop.com/newsletter/175/   There are a lot of good ideas in it.

Paleo Bread

  • 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
  • 2 tablespoons coconut flour
  • 1/4 cup  flaxseed meal
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Place almond flour, coconut flour, flax, salt and baking soda in a food processor and pulse the ingredients together.

Add in eggs, oil, honey and vinegar and pulse.

Pour batter into a greased 7.5″ x 3.5″ non-stick loaf pan (or line with parchment paper.) Bake at 350° F for about 40 minutes. Cool and serve.
A slice of toasted Paleo Bread with Justin’s Maple Almond Butter

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Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

27 Feb

This morning I noticed a couple of my bananas going south. I wanted to bake something other than the usual banana bread so I searched for a cookie recipe. I couldn’t find any with exactly what I wanted so I adapted one and it turned out great! These are seriously good cookies. I mean…like…dangerously good! They came out sort of cakey and chewy. There is plenty of good stuff in them with the oats, whole wheat flour, flax and bananas! For my picky 5 year old I left out walnuts in half of the batch.

    

  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 cups oats (I used thick-cut organic oats)
  • 1/4 cup flax meal or ground flax seeds
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter (1/2 stick), room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2  mashed ripe bananas
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°; line two baking sheets with parchment paper or use a silpat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the oats and flax and mix well.

In a large bowl, with a mixer, cream together the butter and the sugars on medium speed.  

Add the egg, followed by the mashed banana and vanilla extract and beat well with a mixer.

Working by hand, stir in the flour/oat mixture  until just combined and no streaks of flour remain; stir in the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips.

Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the dough onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 10-14 minutes, or until cookies become light brown at the edges. (Mine took 14 min)

Don’t forget to rotate pans half way through for even baking.

Let cool on baking sheet for 3 or 4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container so you don’t eat them all in one sitting!

Makes about 30 cookies.
 

 

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