Chocolate Chunk Almond Butter Cookies

Spiriteds, we have a cookie recipe up on the blog today!!!!!!! And it is paleo and I literally cannot even. I’m so excited I can barely form words to type. I don’t even know where to start. It’s all so surreal. I mean, would I ever be able to make a paleo cookie recipe that didn’t suck? One that didn’t burn in the oven or crumble in the hand or dry up at the sight of light? I wasn’t sure I could do it. But today is a new day, Spiriteds, and these paleo Chocolate Chunk Almond Butter Cookies now grace our little blog community. It’s like we had another child in our family (we didn’t, actually) what with the way we gush over this sweet treat. Should I send out recipe announcements? 

I guess that’s what this blog post is.

Already Chocolate Chunk Almond Butter Cookies are becoming a family staple. We’ve made about 4 batches in 36 hours. And there are still more to come. We are taking these chewy delights on our next family vacation. And, Twinkle and I have already devoured a handful or 20 when we pondered where her STUFFED ANIMAL’S mom was. Yes, forget the birds and the bees. Twinkle was upset her stuffed wolf didn’t know where the stuffed wolf mom was. Spiriteds, I have given the birds and bees talk to youngers more than one time throughout my life. I will take that any day over trying to explain to a five-year-old the origins of stuffed animal families and why stuffed animal babies don’t stay with their stuffed animal parents.

For those of you playing at home, I present the following:

On the way to Costco just to get gas. That’s all. Nothing exciting except for… 

Twinkle: Mom? Wolfie is so sad because she doesn’t know her mom.

Me: Well, we are her family, and we’re so glad she’s here!

Twinkle: But we aren’t her wolf moms. She is just so distressed. And I’m sad, too. I might even be sadder. You know what???? I AM! I AM sadder. Where did Wolfie’s wolf mom go?

Me: Um, well, so, um, wolves are different than people. They, uh, well, they grow up in the wild and then, um, they just go do their own thing. Or something. What did that Netflix documentary tell me??? Anyway, and so then we adopted Wolfie. [#NailedIt]

Twinkle: Oh no! And now Wolfie and her wolf mom can’t find each other!!!! Oh, what will we do? Wolfie is in distress!!!!

By now we are at Costco where I’ve since opened the car door so we can give Wolfie love and hugs, reassuring her that she belongs in our family, because absolutely nothing I have said to this point is making Wolfie or Twinkle feel any better.

On the way to our next destination….

Twinkle: But, Mom, Wolfie is still concerned about her wolf mom. I mean, where would she be???

Me: I know!! I know!! She lives at Bass Pro Shops!!!!

Twinkle: Pass Bro Shops?????

Me: Yeah yeah!!! We adopted Wolfie from there, possibly through Santa Claus, I can’t be sure anymore. And Wolfie’s mom is there looking after the other baby wolves, so that’s why she doesn’t live at our house. 

Twinkle: OH, YES!!! Of course!!! She has to stay there with the baby ‘puplets’. And if they get lost they can just sniff each other’s tracks around the store!!!!! Oh, of course!!!!!! Oh, Wolfie! Did you hear that? Your mom lives with Santa at Prass Bo Shops!!!! Also, Mom? I need a balloon.

Yeah, well, I need a drink, a pen with which to write down this story, and perhaps 30 Chocolate Chunk Almond Butter Cookies. Spiriteds, I love that kid, and I cannot write down her isms fast enough. She and Toodle have always been full of stories and sayings. Their imaginations are to die for.

Toodle then heard about the Wolfie story and sweetly played along. “Oh, Sissy, I’m so glad you located Wolfie’s wolf mom. How wonderful for you both!” Eight-year-olds who act like they are 35 are also delightful.

Toodle is on cloud nine with these Chocolate Chunk Almond Butter Cookies. And possibly it came in handy after the fact when I learned the organizers at vacation Bible school did a grill-out that K-Hubs and I didn’t know about. Poor Toodle and Twinkle at their comparatively boring allergen-free lunches while everyone else ate hot dogs and cheeseburgers. It was just one of those things that no matter how much you think you have planned for camp, something still slips through. The girls were total troupers. Usually, if we know ahead of time, we plan a menu to match or bring our own grilling goods for the girls to enjoy. This time it just slipped through.  Toodle confessed, “Mom, I felt a little jealous that they don’t have allergies and I do.” Heart. Melted.

I try not to do the food-as-a-reward thing, but I might have said, “Let’s go home and eat a few cookies I just made.” Winning. So we all sat together, with Wolfie, of course, and ate our Chocolate Chunk Almond Butter Cookies. When K-Hubs got home from work, he jumped in on the action, too. I think eating a “normalized” cookie made the girls feel better about being “different” than the crowd. Wolfie felt better, too, of course. This cookie now holds a special place in my heart on so many different levels. 

And as for these paleo Chocolate Chunk Almond Butter Cookies, well, I have a few tips and notes for you.

1. Chill the batter. This is going to be a sticky, chewy cookie recipe. Chilling the dough will make it much easier to work with.
2. Plop the batter onto your cookie sheet in teaspoonful amounts. You don’t want to go too large with each cookie, or the batch won’t bake evenly. Also, “plop” is a perfectly scientific term.
3. Let them cool before transferring. Paleo cookies that are grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free are going to have a different consistency than traditional cookies. Gingerly remove them from the baking sheet once they’ve cooled.
4. Use allergen-free chocolate chunks/chips or dark chocolate pieces. We like Enjoy Life brand chocolate chunks and chips. If those don’t work for your needs, then you can try dark chocolate pieces.
5. You might actually feel full after just a few. Speaking from personal, anecdotal, non-scientific experience, the almond butter in these cookies makes them a delightfully filing treat. I found it was hard to overindulge on them (in a good way). The healthy fats almost create a natural stop-gap. So, if you want a quick sweet treat to keep you full, without going overboard, this cookie might do the trick.

And you might be wondering if we are using chunks AND chips in this recipe. Well, OF COURSE we are!!!! Would we ever do anything less than extra with a cookie recipe on this blog? No, no we wouldn’t. Chocolate Chunk Almond Butter Cookies are where it’s at. And the flavor is out of this world.

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