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It was 9pm, the kitchen was clean, the dishwasher was humming away while it cleaned my dirty dishes, and the kids were finally asleep in their own beds. All was peaceful for a Tuesday night. I sat down on the couch, with a warm cup of herbal tea, ready to snuggle with Dustin and watch another episode of Community. After just a few minutes of watching an episode, a late-night must-have-it-now kind of craving hit me.
I’m not usually the kind of gal to get a late-night craving. (Maybe I’m just too exhausted from #momlife to even think about making or eating anything once the kitchen is clean.) But, for some reason, my mind couldn’t stop picturing, and my stomach desiring, homemade chocolate chip cookies. As hard as I tried to block the craving, and just relax on the couch, I couldn’t.
Since it was so late, I didn’t have time to wait for butter to soften on the counter, or any other “fancy” baking steps. I needed chocolate chip cookies, and rest. Any cookie that I prepared had to be beyond easy to make. I also didn’t want anything overly heavy, like a wheat-based cookie.
I grabbed the bag of Honeyville Almond Flour sitting in my fridge. As I pulled it from the cold fridge I noticed a recipe on the back for almond flour cookies. I skimmed the short ingredient list, and then read through the short instructional notes. Yes! Recipe found!
Making a recipe on the back of an ingredient bag at 9pm is a huge risk. If the recipe was a major failure, I’d be left without my intensely-desired cookie. On the other hand, what was my alternative? Waiting 30 minutes for butter to soften? The chance of failure and no cookie far outweighed the latter.
The recipe on the bag called for agave and grapeseed oil, neither of which I keep in my pantry. And, to be honest, the idea of making a cookie without good ol’ butter just didn’t sound very appetizing. I subbed the grapeseed oil for real butter, agave for honey (and reduced the amount), added a starch and an egg yolk, and then topped the recipe additions off with a splash of vanilla extract. The dough mixed up perfectly: resembling gluten-based chocolate chip cookie dough.
After scooping the batter on my prepared cookie sheet, and placing my late-night creation in the warm oven, I couldn’t help but turn on the oven light and watch the cookies through the large glass oven door. Please work! Please work!
The cookies spread, just like a cookie should do, in the heat of the oven, and then twelve minutes later, the golden cookies were ready to be pulled out and enjoyed.
Clearly the recipe was a major success, a miracle so to speak, because here I am talking with you today about almond flour chocolate chip cookies.
I know, “miracle” cookie sounds pretty extreme and dramatic…it’s a cookie! But that’s the only word that I’ve been able to think about each time I’ve tested this recipe since that 9pm baking session. These cookies, in my mind, shouldn’t work. The cookies only contain 1/3 cup of sweetener, and that sweetener is simply honey. Between the honey, and the fact that the recipe is beyond easy to make, I’m going with “miracle” chocolate chip cookies.
"Miracle" Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
Between the honey, and the fact that the recipe is beyond easy to make, I’m going with “miracle” chocolate chip cookies.
Ingredients
- 8 TB butter 1/2 cup // 110g, semi-melted
- 1/3 cup honey 80ml
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups blanched super-fine almond flour 250g, see the flour note under "Ingredient Notes"
- 2 TB arrowroot flour starch or organic cornstarch 15g
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup organic semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350F.
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In a medium-size bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together the semi-melted butter (if you're using a microwave to melt the butter, my butter was perfect after 30 seconds) and honey, until well combined and creamy. Add the egg yolk, and beat for a few seconds, until combined. Finally, beat in the vanilla extract.
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Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients: almond flour, starch, baking soda, and salt. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips.
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I like to use an ice cream scooper to scoop the batter on a parchment-lined baking sheet. You may also make smaller cookies, and not use an ice cream scooper--you may need to adjust the baking time.
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Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, until golden on top. Because the cookies are made with almond flour, they will feel very soft. As the cookies cool, they will firm up, so wait until the cookies are cool (about 5-10 minutes) before enjoying one. The cookies will always be soft, but once they cool, you'll be able to easily pick one up without it crumbling.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Inspired and adapted from the back of a Honeyville Almond Flour bag by Elana's Pantry.
Ingredient Notes
Semi-soft butter means that half of the butter is melted, and half is soft but still in a solid state. I know this sounds crazy, but it’s worked really well in this recipe. I’ve used both salted and unsalted butter in this recipe without issue.
I tested three different almond flour brands in this recipe: Honeyville (also available via the Honeyville website), Bob’s Red Mill, and a generic bulk-bin “brand” from a local health food store. Both the bulk flour and Honeyville flour worked perfectly in this recipe–the cookies spread in the oven, and they were sweet (remember, there’s very little sweetener in this recipe). Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour consistently had issues: the cookies didn’t always spread, and they definitely weren’t as sweet. I’m not sure why this happened, but according to many online threads, I’m not the only one to experience issues with Bob’s Almond Flour and baked goods. If you’re using Bob’s Red Mill, you’ll probably need to smash the cookies down half-way through baking (if the cookies aren’t spreading), and you may need to bake the cookies for 2-3 extra minutes. Also, your cookies may not turn out as sweet with Bob’s, so you could increase the honey to 1/2 cup. Oh, Bob!
I like Enjoy Life, Equal Exchange, or Trader Joe’s Chocolate Chips.
