I’m always intrigued by all of the nut butters that our grocery store carries. I often find myself buying those single serving size packets just to try each one out. When I first tried almond butter I immediately fell in love.
It was creamy, crunchy and had such mild nutty flavor. I couldn’t resist buying a small jar of it. To my surprise the expiration date was only about two months away. I’m not sure if that’s because it’s “natural” or if almond butter has a shorter shelf-life, but I definitely didn’t want it to spoil. So I had some on toast, and on a sandwich… and then got to thinking how it would be amazing as some kind of almond joy treat. Lately I’ve been obsessed with chocolate, almond and coconut. You may or may not have noticed 🙂 I got to work brainstorming ideas for a treat. A while back I made these joyful almond blondie bars, and just recently this dark chocolate coconut layer cake and these chocolate coconut muffins. Cookies sounded good so I went with these flourless chocolate almond joy cookies.
I’m no stranger to flourless cookies. In fact I kind of prefer them (flourless peanut butter cookies // flourless monster cookies). They’re usually really soft, thick and packed full of flavor. I found a recipe for almond butter cookies and adapted it to create these beauties. To start you’ll want to scoop a full cup of almond butter into a medium size mixing bowl. I used a natural crunchy almond butter (Jiff brand), but creamy will work too. To learn how make your own homemade almond butter click here. Next add the cocoa powders (I used a blend of natural and dark, but one or the other is fine) along with the coconut oil and brown sugar. The coconut oil helps keeps these cookies moist and using only brown sugar makes them extra soft and sweet. Sprinkle in the baking soda and then toss in the coconut and chocolate chips. Add the eggs and stir the ingredients together by hand (rather vigorously) for 1 minute.
Scoop the dough into balls (I love using my OXO standard size scoop which is approximately 1.5 tbsp.) and place onto the prepared sheets. Place the slivered almonds on top of the cookies, gently pressing in. Using the palm of your hand, carefully flatten the cookies so that the tops are barely flat. Place in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.
Because these are flourless cookies, they’re going to be soft and look slightly underbaked when they are actually done. So take care to remove them at the 12 minute mark and do not leave them in for any longer! Allow the cookies to cool and firm up on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. I think you’re going to love these flourless chocolate almond joy cookies. They’re like biting into a brownie! The coconut, chocolate chips and almonds help take them to a whole new level of deliciousness. Enjoy with a tall glass of milk! Happy gluten-free baking!
Almond Joy Cookies (Gluten Free) Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 Tbsp special dark chocolate powder or Dutch-process
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup almond butter - creamy or crunchy
- 2 tsp coconut oil or butter
- 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1 cup chocolate chips*
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats, and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the cocoa powders, brown sugar, almond butter, coconut oil, baking soda, shredded coconut, and chocolate chips. Add the eggs and mix until incorporated.
- Using a standard-size cookie scoop (1.5 tbsp), place 12 cookies on each sheet. Gently press 4–5 slivered almonds into the tops and sides of each cookie. Then, with the palm of your hand, slightly flatten the cookies (they don't need much—just a light press) onto the prepared baking sheets.
- Place the sheets in the oven and bake for 10–12 minutes. The cookies will look very soft and slightly underbaked in the centers. They will firm up as they cool. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
NOTES
Nutrition
Recipe source: adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction, Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies
Wow 🙂
Oddly enough I don’t like almond joys even though I love every ingredient in it. No idea what is really in that candy. These look like an absolutely amazing alternative. Can’t wait to try, pinned 🙂
Thanks Sherri! I think you’re going to love these!
How smart of you to incorporate almond butter into almond joy cookies! Love this idea–these cookies look fab!