The Orange Kitchen

Double Chocolate and Almond Cookies.

I do love a good cookie. But, there's one thing I love more than just your average good cookie, and that is a good cookie that is also healthy. With that in mind, these delightful little creations fill the brief perfectly.

You would honestly never know that they were healthy. They look like your average cookie, are crunchy like your average cookie and I'm not biased or anything, but they actually taste better than your average cookie. They're also free from dairy, eggs, lactose and refined sugar which means it's alright when you sit down to eat one and end up eating the whole batch!

Oh, and most importantly, they've got double the chocolate, so naturally they're amazing from the outset!

Ingredients;

4 tbsp pure almond butter
3 tbsp coconut sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla bean paste
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup flour (I used wholemeal spelt)
2 tbsp raw cacao powder
4 tbsp pure maple syrup
2 tbsp rice malt syrup
1/2 cup almonds (slivered almonds work best)
1/2 cup dairy free chocolate chips

1. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. In a bowl, combine the almond butter, coconut sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer. Add in the maple syrup, rice malt syrup, flour, baking powder and cacao and mix until well combined. I also used my hands to combine as the mixer will separate things into chunks a bit, so when the flour was mixed in I used my hands instead to knead the dough.
3. Add in the chopped almonds and chocolate chips, again using your hands to combine and mix in well.
4. Line a baking tray with some paper and then take a small handful, about 1 tbsp worth, of mixture and roll into a ball. Place on the tray and press down lightly. Repeat until you've got no more mixture.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes, keeping an eye on the cookies so they don't burn.
6. Allow to cool and then devour the batch before anyone else comes along and steals them!!!

Hot tip - find yourself some chocolate soy ice-cream (dairy free) and make a cookie sandwich!!!!!