Flourless Maple Almond Butter Cookies

No flour needed in these chewy, salty, sweet cookies starring homemade maple almond butter!

This post is really three recipes in one. Three incredibly easy, incredibly delicious recipes that all stem from one ingredient: the almond.

My wonderful boyfriend’s equally-wonderful parents gave me a Vitamix for Christmas. I almost cried I was so excited. I’ve been drinking the best smoothies every day since then, and I knew it was time to take my blending a step further. Enter almond butter. Plain almond butter just wouldn’t cut it for my first batch. I needed to make it special. What could be more special than maple syrup and salt? Probably nothing. And making it could not have been easier!

Step one:

Mix together raw almonds, maple syrup and some kosher salt. Roast them at 325 for 20 minutes or so and boom: recipe one done. Seriously, these are so good on their own that after I made the almond butter with them, I quickly roasted up another batch to snack on.

Step two:

Toss those almonds into your Vitamix (or other high-powered blender or food processor) with just a touch of oil and blend until you have the nectar spread of the gods: salted maple almond butter. And that is recipe two. Soon I promise I will make almond butter again and take pictures of it as I go so I can show you just how easy it is to make in the Vitamix.

Now on to the main event, recipe three, the reason you’re (hopefully, at least) still reading this: flourless salted maple almond butter chocolate chunk cookies. Okay, so the name doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. But your tongue will be so busy freaking out over how these cookies taste that it really won’t mind the lengthy title.

Like the name, the flavor profile of these cookies is hard to sum up in few words. You can definitely taste the maple syrup, but you don’t feel like you’re eating a waffle. The salt is very present, perfectly balancing out the sweetness from the chopped semisweet chocolate. And the chew-factor. Oh god, it’s amazing. These are the chewiest cookies in the world, and I mean that in the best way possible. There is nothing flimsy nor crispy about these cookies and I love it.

The natural oil (plus the bit of added oil) in the almond butter does mean that these cookies spread a bit, but they somehow still remain so perfectly puffy. I baked a few of these right out of the mixer, and they were great. But I saved the rest of the batch to bake after they’d chilled on the fridge overnight, and they were on an entirely different level. The flavors had really had a chance to meld and the cookie stayed together perfectly after baking.

While I love baking with gluten free flours (especially Cup4Cup and Jules Gluten Free Flour), sometimes it’s nice to not have to worry about it.

If you don’t want to make your own almond butter (but I know deep down that you do want to), a store bought brand would likely work very well (Justin’s has a great maple almond butter.)

These cookies (did I mention they’re only five ingredients?) are definitely going to be a new staple around my house. I can’t wait to try them with different flavors of almond butter!

What other nut butters should I try to make in the Vitamix? Suggestions are very welcome!

Flourless Maple Almond Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Prep: 5 min + chilling   Cook: 8-10 min    Makes: ~15 medium cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup salted maple almond butter (see recipe below, or substitute a store bought almond butter)
1 egg, room temp
1 cup light brown sugar, loosely packed (can use dark brown)
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped semisweet chocolate (can use chocolate chips)

Directions:
1. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or with a handheld mixer, beat almond butter and brown sugar together on medium high for several minutes until well combined.
2. Add in egg and mix to incorporate.
3. Add in baking soda and combine.
4. Add in chocolate chips or chopped chocolate and quickly stir until just combined.
5. Scoop dough onto a parchment paper lined cookie tray (I used a medium cookie scoop). If the dough has excess oil, lightly dab off with a paper towel. Cover trays and chill dough for 2 hours or several days in the fridge (chilling in this recipe is not mandatory, but it is recommended.)
6. Preheat oven to 350. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the center of cookies is just set and the edges have started to turn lightly brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool on tray for 5 minutes before moving to rack to finish cooling.

Salted Maple Almond Butter

Ingredients:
3 cups raw almonds
6 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Stir together almonds, syrup and salt and pour onto sheet.
3. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
4. Add almonds and oil to blender or food processor. Follow that machine’s protocol for making nut butters.