Nope - no almond butter. Instead, I'm working on using up the almond meal I had previously spent almost $10 on before I realized I don't need it for the Almolate I was working on. Anyway, this recipe's a real keeper. It's not sickeningly fattening - nor is it fat free. Same thing with the sugar. Instead, I've mixed yummy with healthy and I really like the results. Btw, if you remove the Baking Powder, you have a great sugar-based, edible-once-baked modeling clay, and possibly also a better pie crust than I came up with last time. I do intend to try using the almond meal in a separate pie crust recipe though.
Even though this is a cookie recipe, I'll be using the standard "mix wet into dry ingredients" technique. It's a real keeper, when properly employed. Also, a touch of Iodized Sea Salt is optional, and should be mixed into the dry ingredients.
Dry Ingredients
1 1/2 C White Flour (1/2 C can be substituted with Soy Protein Isolate for added protein)
1 C Almond Meal
1/2 C Fair Trade Organic Sugar (I used the white kind - it's a tad sweeter)
4 packets Sun Crystals Stevia
1 1/2 T Baking Powder
Wet Ingredients
1/4 C Sugar Free Apple Sauce (Tree Top has a good one) [Carbs/Cellulose/Fiber - Puffiness]
1/4 C Egg White [Protein - Congealing]
3 T Nucoa [Fat - Fluffiness/Runniness]
4 drops Fair Trade Vanilla
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together all dry ingredients, in order.
3. In a blender, add the Wet Ingredients, in order. Blend on low for a few seconds, and then on medium for about 30 seconds, until generally smooth, though the butter won't completely blend in - nor should it. This is for a fairly non-pliable cookie. For a softer cookie, add a tablespoon or two more of any of the liquid ingredients, excepting the Vanilla. I've noted which main health and physical properties you'll be increasing next to each ingredient, for your convenience.
4. Pour liquid ingredients into the dry, and mix in until all the dry ingredients are damp. Small clumps should start forming but not really sticking together without pressure. If this is for a softer cookie, then a sticking-together dough ball should start forming from the clumps. If the dough is too runny for your purposes, add more almond meal or flour. Don't instantly revert to adding more sugar: it's not necessary to add more of that first.
5. Using your hands, mold the dough into a ball, and then place the ball on a sheet of wax paper, then choose one of the two methods in step 6 for forming your cookies.
6a. Cookie Cutter Method. Push the ball down to being about 2" thick and relatively flat, then cover with another piece of wax paper. Roll the dough out to being about 1/3" thick, then pull the top layer of wax paper up. Use a cookie cutter to make nice, professional looking cookie shapes. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper, or spray it down with pan spray or else with oil in a Misto container. Do not use flour in this procedure, as it will only burn later. Once all the rolled out dough has had shapes cut into it, carefully remove the excess dough from around the outside edge of the dough, and place it into a small, clean bowl. Then carefully pull up each cookie and place on the prepared cookie sheet, leaving about 1/4" or more between each cookie. (Remember to place any bake-able toppings on the cookies before putting them onto the prepared cookie sheet, or if they can't be baked, withhold them until after the cookies are done baking and off of the cookie sheet.) Make sure that the thicker cookies are placed furthest from the center, and the thinner cookies closer to it, to help prevent burning and increase baking consistency. (Kind of like turning food in a microwave.)
6b. Hand Rolled Method. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper, or spray it down with pan spray or else with oil in a Misto container. Do not use flour in this procedure, as it will only burn later. Using a melon baller or small ice cream scoop, break off a piece of the dough that's about 3/4" cubed, and roll it into a smooth ball with your hands. Place the ball on the cookie sheet and move on to making the rest of the dough into balls, all lined up on the cookie sheet, with about 1 1/2" between the ball edges. Or, make whatever shape you wish. (Remember to place any bake-able toppings on the cookies before putting them onto the prepared cookie sheet, or if they can't be baked, withhold them until after the cookies are done baking and off of the cookie sheet.) Once the cookie sheet is filled with balls of cookie dough, use the smooth bottom of a clean cup to flatten each dough ball. The cup shouldn't stick, but if it does, either greasing it or coating it with sugar will keep it from sticking to the dough. Optionally, you can use your fingers to make different designs in the dough while flattening each ball down. Ideally, even a clean (never used) rubber stamp (with larger, non-fine designs in it) should be fun to play with here! Use a candy mold to make shapes and then transfer each cookie back onto the cookie sheet. Whatever. Have fun with it!
7. Once the cookie sheet is full, place it in the oven and bake the cookies for 12 minutes (13 if you want them slightly toasted). Pull the cookie sheet out with oven mits and place on cool stove burners to start cooling, but keep the oven at 350 degrees.
8. Using a wire mesh strainer (I use my globe tea strainer for this), optionally sprinkle some fair trade organic powdered sugar on top of the cookies. If wax paper was used to line the cookie sheet, then it's a great idea to do this while the cookies are still sitting on top of it. Otherwise, place the cookies on a cooling wrack first, and have some old newspaper or something under the cooling wrack to catch the excess powdered sugar. Other toppings, syrups, etc., which could not be baked (or they would have burned), can be added during this stage. If wax paper was used to line the cookie sheet, then remove it carefully (to avoid a lot of mess) and discard.
9. To finish baking the excess dough, repeat steps 5 through 8, but baking the cookies for 2 minutes less than you did before, because there is that much less dough that the oven will now be too hot for 12 or 13 minutes, and they would otherwise burn.
Serve stacked on a regular plate or a nice candy display, etc.
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