Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

There are few things more delicious than cookies made for no reason at all. 

Last week, a friend from work asked if I could use up an almost full tub of almond butter in one weekend since the expiration date was that Monday. Um, challenge accepted. 

My favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe is one my Mom clipped out of a newspaper forever and a day ago.I have no idea what it's called or who actually came up with it. Sorry. The best part about it is that it calls for 1 cup of peanut butter. Having regular chocolate chip cookies with no peanut better tastes weird to me now. I've been spoiled! Substituting the peanut butter with almond butter seemed like a delicious alternative, and somehow made the cookies seem more grown up. To match the adult(ish) switch to almond butter, I decided to use dark chocolate instead of the usual semi-sweet (so basically they're healthy now) and toffee bits (shhh... just let me believe they're healthy). 

You will need:

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups all purpose flour 

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup almond butter

2 eggs

1 cup soft butter 

2 cups mix-in of choice (used here are dark chocolate and toffee bits)

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together sugars, butter, and almond butter. Mix in eggs. Add combined flour and baking soda. 

Use a spoon to combine the mix-ins. It seemed like fun to experiment: the far left is just dark chocolate, the center is dark chocolate and toffee, the right is just toffee. Really, there was no way to loose.

Make fun of your friend a little for the large size of her cookie balls. Roll your own in 1 inch balls and place about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. 14-15 minutes for those more enthusiastically sized.

Leave them on the sheet a few minutes to firm up. If you move them while they are too hot they will fall apart, which is part of what makes them so delicious. Put them on a wire rack or paper towels to finish cooling.

Eat too many, force your friend to take some home, then bring them to work the next day because you don't need a massive plate of delicious cookies all by yourself.

Is there anything different about your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe? What other mix-ins would you want to try? I'd love to know.

Sheila

P.S. The one with both chocolate and toffee was my favorite, in case you're wondering. Although all 3 options were enjoyed.

Chocolate-Dipped Watermelon Cookies

Why stop at just a fruit bouquet when you can make fruit "cookies"?

How about chocolate dipped watermelon cookies? Whole Foods had watermelon on sale the other day so I picked one up. At the time I didn't have any specific plans for it. Later I remembered I needed a dessert this week...brain storming...mental pantry inventory... Does chocolate taste good with watermelon?...

Yes my friends, yes it does.

You will need:

Seedless Watermelon
Cookie Cutter
16 oz Chocolate Chips, I used dark chocolate and semi-sweet mixed
small chuck of paraffin wax, 1/8th of the bar would be almost too much
toppings such as coconut, sea salt, etc.

*I've heard that coconut oil is able to function in the same way as paraffin wax; it should help the chocolate to grab on to the fruit and become slightly hardened when cooled. I haven't tried it but I want to!

Start by heating up your chocolate so it has time to melt slowly. You can do this in a double boiler on over low-medium heat, or use a mini-crock pot with a warm setting. Keep an eye on your chocolate and stir occasionally throughout the following steps.



Slice your watermelon in pieces about as thick as your chosen cookie cutter. In this case, about 3/4".


Use the cookie cutter to create small cookie shapes from the slices quickly and easily. I used a flower cookies cutter. A smaller cookie cutter seemed like it would be easier to dip in the chocolate.

Honestly, the cookie cutter could be your only step and it would still be an adorable way to eat watermelon. But if you're in it for the chocolate long haul, mix the small piece of paraffin wax with the mostly melted chocolate. Stir until the piece is gone. You can use a serving fork to pick up each cookie and dip one flat side into the melted chocolate.




Place the dipped watermelon chocolate side up on a piece of wax paper and sprinkle on your chosen topping before the chocolate hardens. I used coconut and sea salt as topping choices, and left others undipped or just chocolate.

It was fun to alternate the finished products on a cookie sheet. The sea salt was definitely my favorite.

You don't need to refridgerate or freeze to harden the chocolate, but I would recommend refrigerating if you're waiting to serve them. Otherwise, just enjoy! Overhead lighting makes them look super shiny.

These weren't happy when they were outside for a while, but they regained their composure when taken out of the heat. If you make them for a cookout, I would keep them inside or refrigerated until it's time to serve rather than leaving them out on the table.

Have you ever had chocolate and watermelon before? What topping would you like to try? I'd love to know!

Sheila :)