Almond Butter Cookies |

The weather in Vancouver has been really wonderful. We had two gorgeous days on sunshine throughout the week and then yesterday started crummy with a straight 5-6 hours of rain but wrapped up on a blue-skied, sunny note. Today is another sunny one, so I am going to have to wander outside for some vitamin D and fresh air. I love being able to wander outside in the middle of February in just a sweater. No boots, hat, mitts, or scarf needed! I certainly don’t miss the snow and will be sad to leave Vancouver if ever needed. The snow that comes with practically every other city in Canada is not something I embraced. I’ve paid my snow dues, 18 years in the Yukon and 6 in Calgary! I deserve a little West Coast weather pampering, and have made sure to take full advantage.

All that said, I am looking at some Toronto positions that would be worth the move back into the big white. If they come around to be the real thing, I am going to have to mentally prepare for a winter unlike any I’ve experienced with snow AND humidity.

Anyway, I felt the other day like I needed to make something. I kind of neglected Not Crocker last week as I picked up a couple temp assignments that required me to bus it out to Richmond. By the time I got home I kind of flopped on the couch in a trance-like daze and Gen kindly made up some dinner for me. I did attempt a pork and rapini dish yesterday to very little success as the rapini over-powered the pork. I choked a bowl down and thankfully Gen finished up the rest. We all have our cooking failures!

Yesterday I was pondering what I could make this weekend for Not Crocker and Gen suggested cookies. Of course! I haven’t made cookies since… Christmas?! So I whipped up something pretty interesting, if I do say so myself. I was thinking of making something similar to almond crescents, but, though I have almond extract, I wanted to use this rich, roasted almond butter we have in the cupboard. So, I did some jumbling of the fats and flours to come up with a really interesting cookie that is like an adult version of a peanut butter cookie. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely think peanut butter cookies are for adults, but these take that same type of cookie to another level. They are tender on the inside and packed full of intense nut flavour. They are also fairly delicate, and I managed to bust one on it’s way out of the tray, so be careful! The firm up once they’ve cooled though, so don’t be afraid of them!

Almond Butter Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup almond butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup ground almonds
1/2 tsp cardamom
2 cups flour

icing sugar for dusting

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine butter and almond butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla and beat until combined.
Using a food processor or coffee grinder in batches, grind up whole almonds until they are fine as possible (without going so far as to make your own almond butter).
Add the ground almonds and flour a little at a time until a dough forms. This is a crumbly dough but it will hold together to form balls. If you are finding your dough is too dry to shape, drizzle a tablespoon of water over the dough and work through.
Form dough into 1 inch balls. At this point you can attempt forming crescents, press down slightly into discs, or leave as balls. Keep in mind that flattening the balls will result in a shorter cooking time.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden brown, and just beginning to crack.
Carefully move the cookies to a wire rack and dust with icing sugar while still warm.

What a little beating will do, the butter, almond butter, and sugar really come together and get light and fluffy. I stepped away for a few minutes while mixing and could actually see the difference, I quickly scraped that into the rest of the batter.