A few weeks ago, I took a little me-only mini vacation and met one of my best girlfriends for a long weekend of cooking, lunching, sleeping in, and talking-- all without children hanging from our sleeves. (A novel concept for most moms, but one I highly recommend!)
One of our cooking endeavors was desert. Now, my friend is a contradiction of sorts: she's a of lover-of-sweets meets health-nut, so the recipe she showed me was not only delicious, but healthy too. Alright, maybe healthy is too strong of a word, but it is certainly far above your old chocolate chip recipe when it comes to nutrition. There's more of the good stuff you want in your diet, and less of the stuff you could do without. After all, when was the last time you had a cookie that was gluten-free, high in protein, but low in sodium and saturated fat? Oh, and tasted awesome?
If it's been a while, this cookie is for you. But no matter what your outlook on nutrition, these cookies are the perfect satisfier when you've got a sweet tooth, which I pretty much always do. They're sweet, rich, and cake-like fluffy. You can make them as drop cookies too, but they are delicate when baked and turn out perfectly as a cookie bar. They're completely flour-less, instead using almond butter as a base. The almond butter adds an unusual nutty flavor and delicate crumb.
They're also a great if you have children around who like to help in the kitchen. With only six* ingredients, little measuring, and a quick, minimally messy assembly, they're easy to prepare and clean up.
Best Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (Ever)
Adapted by Kristy from
UPDATE: Sorry for the error! Kristy let me know that her adaptation was based on a recipe in Clean Eating Magazine.
1 16 oz. jar almond butter
1/2 cup evaporated cane sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt* (see note below)
2 extra large eggs
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips
*if using salted almond butter, omit the 1/2 tsp. of salt.
Preheat oven to 325 F degrees.
Combine all of the ingredients, except chocolate chips, in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. I like my stand mixer for this because it blends the almond butter so smoothly.
Mix until well blended and smooth. When the mixture is smooth and looks slightly crumbly, gently stir in the chocolate chips. Your dough won't look like a classic flour-based dough; rather, it will pull away from the sides of the bowl and look crumbly. You'll notice that it easily comes back together with gentle patting.
Transfer the cookie dough into and ungreased 9" x 11" glass baking pan. (Reduce baking temperature to 350 F degrees if using a dark pan.) Using a silicone scraper or clean fingers, pat the dough evenly through the pan.
Bake in the center of the oven for 20 - 25 minutes. Test for doneness using a clean knife inserted about and inch from the center. If they are done, the knife will come out clean.
Cool completely before cutting.
Now, go ruin your healthy cookie by putting some vanilla ice cream on top!
1 comments:
Oh me oh my, when I saw that almond butter was the first ingredient on the list, I didn't have to look any longer...this is a keeper! Thank-you.
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