Recipe: Nut Butter Cookies

With Thanksgiving, and then Christmas, right around the corner, our lives are about to get crazy. Schedules get busier than ever, and parties and get-togethers with less than ideal food choices are everywhere. We don't get as much sleep, and the stress really builds up.

Enter: the perfect cookie. Sweet, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and delicious. Bonus points for being grain free, refined sugar free, and high in protein. All from one bowl and 5 ingredients. They take practically no time to make, and are healthy - for a cookie! This very well may be the recipe that saves the season.

I used peanut butter in these, but any nut butter would be fantastic, and even coconut butter works. And don't worry if you're not a coconut fan, the coconut sugar doesn't taste at all like coconut. But I love coconut sugar because it's a much more natural choice, and doesn't spike your blood sugar like regular sugar. It is made by tapping a sugar coconut tree (just like maple syrup is made from the sugar maple tree). The sap is boiled down, then dehydrated, and that's it. 

You'll see I added a bit of chocolate to these. I melted down a dark chocolate bar and drizzled it over the top. I've also just chopped the bar up and stirred it into the batter. Or just leave it out - they will be amazing either way.

Nut Butter Cookies

1 cup nut butter (peanut, almond, hazelnut, etc)
1 cup coconut sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda
dark chocolate bar (optional), chopped or melted

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Add all ingredients (except optional chocolate) to a bowl and mix thoroughly. If you'd like, stir in some chopped chocolate chunks.

Scoop out 1-2 tablespoon dollops of cookie mixture and place on the baking sheet, leaving a few inches between each dough ball. Take a fork and press down on each ball to flatten a bit. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cooked through.

Place on a baking rack to cool. Repeat until all dough has been used.

If you want the chocolate splatters like in the picture, melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Once all the cookies have cooled a bit, drizzle the chocolate over with a spoon, flicking it at the end to get the Jackson Pollack-like splatter.