The other day, I had my first real urge to bake something since Spring.  Summer was H.O.T. this year and my kitchen is particularly stuffy even though there is a window and I just didn’t want to hang out in a hot kitchen to realize after all that, my cookies spread too much because of the heat.  Then, the temperature dropped, and it began to feel like fall and baking seemed like an attractive option once again.

When I do bake, I tend to make a lot of cookies.   I also love quick breads, but those don’t get eaten as fast, so I went almond butter cookies, similar to peanut butter cookies.  My roommate has a peanut allergy.  I’m used to peanut allergies.  My sister, Lily, also has one, so until I was 18 I didn’t eat nuts.  In college, I went crazy for nuts.  I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Reese’s and straight up spoonfuls of peanut butter.  While the novelty wore off after a while, peanuts and nuts re-entered my diet as a staple.  My roommate, Erin is only allergic to peanuts, so luckily for her and us we can all still enjoy a variety of nuts.  Hence, the almond butter cookies.  According to Alex, these cookies were my best textured to date.  Enjoy.

Almond Butter Cookies

1 1/4 cup almond butter (I used raw creamy unsalted, but you can use your preferred type)

1 cup sugar

3 TBS maple syrup

2 TBS white rice flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line two greased baking sheets with waxed paper and grease the waxed paper as well.  The grease on the pans helps the paper stick.  Combine the wet ingredients first (almond butter, egg, maple syrup, and sugar) and then add the flour and baking powder.  I did this in a food processor, but you can do it by hand, it just takes some elbow grease with the dense almond butter.  The dough should be sticky, but firm and maleable.  If its too wet, add more flour.  Roll tablespoon sized chunks into balls and then roll them in a plate of sugar.  Place the balls onto the baking sheet and press a greased fork into the ball twice to make a checkered pattern and flatten them slightly.  Bake for 12 minutes.  Check on the cookies at 10 minutes to make sure they aren’t burning, because some ovens are different.

These cookies come out flat and crisp, if you want cakier, heartier cookies here is a modification:

1 cup almond butter

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup gluten-free oats

4 TBS flour

2 tps baking powder

1 egg

3 TBS maple syrup.

The only difference in this recipe is that you want to wait until everything is combined before you add the oats.  I also used a food processor for this and it ended up chopping the oats into smaller pieces, making the end result less obviously oat-y.  I also baked these at 350 for 12 minutes and they came out cakier and denser.