Flourless Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter Cookies
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I brought cookies!!!
That has to help, right?
These are a riff on the classic flourless peanut butter cookies [like these! or try my chocolate version!] that are so very simple to make. But this time instead of peanut butter I used almond butter.
And, since plain almond butter doesn’t really have too much flavor I thought I’d add a few other ingredients to liven these babies up.
Remember my Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter recipe from years ago? That’s probably the most popular recipe on the blog, so it only made sense to infuse these cookies with maple and cinnamon.
After 4 trials testing a few different methods I finally landed on my favorite, but all methods were totally edible.
I tested the cookies using all baking powder, all baking soda, a half + half combo, and chilling the dough.
If you’re interested in the results read below…
1tsp Baking Powder: The cookies did not spread and slightly puffed. They ended up about the same thickness as when I placed them in the oven after pressing down with a fork in a crisscross pattern. The texture improved once these were fully cooled.
1tsp Baking Soda: These cookies spread completely after rolling into a ball and making the crisscross fork pattern. Photographed below. They became crisp once cooled and had a more buttery texture/taste. I really loved these but didn’t want them to spread as much.
1/2tsp Baking Powder + 1/2tsp Baking Soda: These still spread after baking [also had the crisscross pattern] but not quite as much. I preferred the texture of these but still wanted a cookie that didn’t spread.
1/2tsp Baking Powder + 1/2tsp Baking Soda with Refrigerated Dough [favorite]: Refrigerating the dough helped the cookies hold their shape. It was with this last trial that I tried not pressing down on half of the cookies and baked them in their rolled, ball-form. Neither cookie spread much and the rolled cookies had a softer center. Last photo in the post.
As soon as I went to start testing these cookies I realized I didn’t have eggs and it was a snowy, 5 degrees outside. Walking to the store was not an option. So instead, I decided these cookies were going to be vegan, gluten-free, and flourless.
Ground flax for the win! It worked perfectly.
Cookie testing definitely trumped lunch this day. Oy.
adapted from: flourless chocolate peanut butter cookies
Flourless Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter Cookies
gluten-free, grain-free, vegan // yields ~18 cookies
- 3 tablespoons coconut sugar, or sucanat/pure cane sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground flax meal
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking soda
- 1 cup natural creamy almond butter
- 5 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- large flaked sea salt, to top
Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add in the almond butter, maple syrup, and vanilla. Stir/mash with a large spoon or fork until the mixture comes together and forms a thick dough [~1 minute]. It thickens as you stir. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350* F. Remove the dough and roll into tablespoon sized balls. Place on a baking sheet with 2-inch spacing. Leave in ball-form or lightly press down in a crisscross pattern with a fork. Sprinkle with large flaked sea salt.
Bake for 8-12 minutes, depending on your desired doneness. If you leave the cookies in ball-form they may need an extra minute of bake time. Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes. Warm cookies will be fragile and soft but firm up and hold together as they cool. You can test a small batch and then adjust the bake time depending on how “done” you want your cookies.
notes: The cookies will still turn out if not refrigerated, they just will spread more. If you don’t want the cookies to spread as much bake them in rolled ball form and don’t press down with a fork. If your almond butter has oil on top be sure to fully combine the oil with the nut butter before using. I’m not sure of the results if using the “no stir” type of almond butter. If you want thin + crispy cookies omit the baking powder and use 1 teaspoon baking soda. The cookies will spread on the pan and have a crisp, buttery texture.
Head on over to my publisher’s blog for a fun doughnut-themed giveaway!
Also, check out the latest on my photography blog from my cousin Kara’s wedding.
Aaaand, happy weekend!
AND…GO BUCKS!!!
Okay, I’m done. For reals.
Ashley
