Vegan Almond Butter Crunch Cookies

As a child, my favorite cookies were peanut butter cookies. Maybe it was the rich peanut butter flavor? or the criss-cross pattern made simply by a fork. Either way they were, and still are, heavenly.

My love for peanut butter is still strong. I have been known to eat spoonfuls of peanut butter straight from the jar, too. Don?t judge. You do it too.

But I have found a new love for almond butter and I have been wanting to make AB cookies for quite some time. This recipe is out of The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and was originally a jam thumbprint recipe. As I was gathering my ingredients for my baking adventure I noticed I was lacking jam. Hence, Almond Butter Crunch Cookies. Next time I will add the jam as I think it would take these cookies over the top!

Almond Butter Crunch Cookies

1/2 cup nondairy, nonhydogenated butter (such as Earth Balance) 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 1/2 cup almond butter (or peanut butter), either smooth or crunchy 2 tablespoons non dairy milk plus extra , if needed 1 teaspoon vanilla extract pinch of salt, if using un-salted almond/peanut butter 1 1/2 cups whole wheat or all-purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon baking aluminum free baking powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, peanut butter, milk and vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Add more milk if mixture becomes too stiff, but you need the batter to be stiff so you can easily roll balls.

Roll batter into 1 inch balls and evenly space them onto a non-stick cookie sheet. Use the back of a fork and make two indents by gently pressing down on the batter.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. 

These cookies are not overly sweet and have a nice subtle almond butter flavor. They are much better once they have cooled for a few hours.