Almond White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

September 27, 2011

Two stacks of Almond White Chocolate Chunck Cookies on a wire cooling rack over a white paper towel

Last week my sweet tooth called my name, begging me to indulge it with something … anything! It was 10pm. Yeah, I know, bad eating habits die hard, but I’m working on it. Sugar is my biggest weakness.

I took a look at what I already had in the kitchen to figure out what kind of tasty treat I could come up with. I considered making chocolate chip cookies or brownies; however, all of the recipes I consulted called for brown sugar, of which, I had none. I didn’t have molasses either, which can be used to make a brown sugar substitute.

Image 1: Baked Almond White Chocolate Chunk cookies on a wire cooling rack over white paper towels; Image 2: Silpat-lined cookie sheet with six drops of cookie dough spaced out over the sheet

Stuck on the idea of cookies, I continued to skim various cookie recipes while trying to decide what to bake. Heidi Swanson’s Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe from her Super Natural Cooking served as good inspiration. The recipe didn’t call for brown sugar, and it got me thinking about other flours I could use aside from all-purpose white flour. Heidi explores using non-traditional flours regularly.

I’ve had a package of almond flour sitting in my refrigerator for months, which I bought with the intention of trying Daisy Martinez’s recipe for almond cake. I’ve yet to make the cake, so the almond flour, a fluffy powder of ground almonds, was available and I wondered how it would work in cookies. The recipe below is what I came up with, and they turned out very well. The cookies are thin and crispy, and slightly chewy in the center when you take them out of the oven. Enjoy!

Almond White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Makes about 2 – 3 dozen cookies
Adapted from Heidi Swanson’s mesquite chocolate chip cookies.

1-1/4 c Whole wheat pastry flour
1 c Almond flour
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup + 2 tbs Unsalted butter, softened
1-1/4 c Sugar (I prefer evaporated cane juice)
Ground flax seed egg substitute (2 tbs Ground flax seed meal +
6 tbs water) or 2 large eggs
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Almond extract
1/2 cup Sliced almonds
1 cup White chocolate chunks ( or chips)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. If using the ground flax egg substitute, put flax seed meal and water in a small bowl and set aside for 5 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in flax mixture or two eggs and the vanilla and almond extracts.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Stir the flour (a little bit at a time in three increments) into the wet mixture until just combined. Stir in the almonds and white chocolate until just evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Using a spoon or cookie scoop, drop about 1 tablespoon of dough for each cookie (2 inches apart for pretty, round cookies) on a parchment or silpat-lined cookie sheet (you’ll likely only get 6 cookies on a sheet).  Bake for about 12 minutes. Cookies are done when lightly brown. Take the sheet out of the oven and let the cookies sit for a few minutes before moving them with a spatula to a cooking rack.

Rinse the cookie sheet under cold water and dry each time between baking batches. Bake the rest of the cookies as described.

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Comments

4 Responses to “Almond White Chocolate Chunk Cookies”

  1. Dee @ Cocktails with mom on September 27th, 2011 8:29 pm

    These look absolutely awesome. I’m passing this on to my neice who loves baking.

  2. Margot Carmichael Lester on September 28th, 2011 7:55 am

    Holy cow! I’m definitely going to try these since I love almonds *and* white chocolate. Your ingenuity amazes me, Tesia. Thanks for sharing this!

  3. Tesia on September 28th, 2011 9:17 am

    Thanks Margot and Dee, I hope you enjoy the cookies.

  4. Jocelyn on October 2nd, 2012 9:03 am

    These look great! I am allergic to nuts but I can definitely omit those. White chocolate is my fave!


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    FlavorDiva.com shares the writing and recipes of Tesia Love and her culinary journey in reclaiming the legacy of the great home cook.
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