Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies
The kind of cookie you can smugly eat for breakfast.
My morning routine is probably similar to yours in some ways: wash, brush teeth, rearrange hair, put on reasonably clean clothes, check email to see if fortune and men’s eyes are smiling on me, then beweep my outcast state and go feed the dog.
Bosco has shepherded me through this entire process to ensure I, Head Sheep, do not forget to feed him. Calvin and Clyde benefit from this, and so, each morning Bosco demands his tithe, a small amount of their wet cat food.
It’s then a visit to my dear friend, the dishwasher, who worked while I slept. The sink usually has some pan or other that absolutely needed soaking, no two ways about it, according to whomever it was that didn’t wash it last night. At this point I turn on the news. Then, as most mornings, I turn on “Morning Joe” for my dose of horror, despair, fear and inequity, but also wisdom and calm(most often from the brilliant guests, many of whom I have the privilege of knowing, such as Joyce Vance, Dave Aronberg and, ja, my big brother, David.)
But, today I just couldn’t. It wasn’t a specific news story, nor an annoyingly lengthy sports rant from Joe (although that is reason enough). I just became overwhelmed and I knew I had to turn it off. It felt like a minor panic attack brought on by the feeling of futility, sadness and anger. Even a positive story (job growth!) made me ponder how it would be spun to defame President Biden in the current election climate.
I turned instead to the latest episode of “Gardener’s World” on Britbox. There I found the antidote to the assault of news. Quiet, intense, welcoming, encouraging and hopeful—each episode starts with the sound of birdsong in host Monty Don’s Herefordshire garden, for goodness’ sake— it’s my new favorite meditation and I highly recommend it.*
How do you balance your intake of news with preservation of your mental health? Do you take breaks from the news? Let me know in the comments.
Today’s recipe is for an almond chocolate chip cookie, and also reflects this week’s need for reset. Made entirely with almond flour, so it’s rich with protein and happy nutrients, it’s also lower in sugars than most cookies, and can be made entirely vegan if that’s your thing.
The cookie is a satisfying combo of thick, chewy and tender. Among its other charms is the dough can be ready to bake by the time your oven comes to temperature.
My house is now lush with the smell of sweet, toasted almond and vanilla, which is reason enough to bake them. (Far better than the other possibilities in my house, which can include: “OMG, is that black mold,” and “Please tell me the cat did not just do THAT.”)
NOTES on the making of this cookie:
The cookie uses a mix of brown sugar and honey. In the long run, sugar is sugar whether it’s coconut sugar or otherwise. But there certainly isn’t a lot of sugar in these cookies, so that’s something. I haven’t tried the recipe with a sugar substitute, but if that’s your thing, give it a try and lmk.
I didn’t go completely vegan. You’ll see I used Mykonos plant-based butter (the only kind I trust for baking) and an egg because I wanted more protein and it’s indefatigable binding power. That said, you can easily veganize this by making a chia “egg.”
To make a chia “egg”: Mix together 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 2 1/2 tablespoons of water. Let sit for 5 minutes to allow it to turn gel-like.
I added chopped, lightly salted roasted almond to the batter. I am not the biggest fan of nuts in cookies, but these provide a welcome crunch and a surprise burst of saltiness.
Interesting substitutions for chocolate chips:
Crushed Skor or Daim bar
2 teaspoons lemon or orange zest
Diced dried apricot or dried pineapple.
Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 18 2-inch cookies
What You’ll Need:
2 cups (192 grams) almond flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
1/4 cup (45 grams) brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (57 grams) vegan butter, melted (I use Mykonos)
2 tablespoons honey
1 large egg (or sub a chia egg)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (170 grams) chocolate chips
1/2 cup roasted, lightly salted almonds, chopped
What You’ll Do:
Heat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave. Alternatively, melt the butter on the stove and pour it into a small bowl to cool.
While the butter cools, whisk together in a large bowl the almond flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips and chopped almonds. Set aside.
To the small bowl, add the honey to the melted butter and whisk until combined. Add the egg (or substitute egg) and vanilla extract and whisk until uniform and smooth.
Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients in the large bowl, and stir until combined. Make sure no dry streaks are hiding at the bottom of the bowl.
Scoop 2-inch scoops of dough onto the baking sheets. Gently press down on each ball of dough to slightly flatten the tops. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until light golden brown.
Let the cookies rest for 10 minutes on the cookie sheets before retiring them to a cooling rack for further rest. Rest sounds nice, doesn’t it? Should we all agree to take a nap now?
Store in an airtight container. They will remain soft this way.
See you shortly with a soup recipe. Take care of yourselves. Buy yourself a bunch of daffodils and pretend they’re from me.
*In this world of quick judgments, let me add before anyone chides me for turning my back on the issues plaguing our world: of course I’m not. I’m just going to read about it at my own speed. It can’t be the discordant music I wake up to. By lunch, when I have to go teach, I’ll be up-to-date on the news so I can talk to my students about it.
We kicked off conversation in class today looking at the headlines about O.J. Simpson’s death and compared ones like NPR’s:
or
The New York Times:
or, if the headline should just have said “O.J. Simpson dead at 76 from cancer.” The question being, which comes first, the football or the murder trial? ?Or?
The Part Where I Beg:
This substack is a reader-supported publication. I cannot do it without you. If you’re able, paying for a subscription helps pay for the groceries necessary for recipe-testing and recipe development. Also, it supports me—a freelance writer—and ad-free journalism.
The pay scale for journalists and writers has not kept up with the cost of living. That’s why having a substack newsletter has become such a terrific venue for so many writers. Best of all, it puts me, Bosco, Calvin and Clyde in touch with our readers like never before. And: Clyde would like to add it keeps him in cat treats. He realllly likes his cat treats.
Can’t afford a subscription? Do the next best thing and give free subscriptions to all your friends. The more the merrier. And now, there’s a discount for subscriptions.
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This recipe looks awesome. But whether the cat did that or not is purely rhetoric. Of course the cat did it.
My break from the crazy? I subscribe to newsletters about cooking, baking (cough) and gardening....even though I dont bake much anymore. Your recipes do look very tasty, you may tempt me back to the oven yet.