Almond Chocolate Chip cookies

I saw a story a couple weeks ago on NPR about gluten free baking. I don't particularly enjoy doing it--I feel like I have less flexibility to modify recipes because I don't know how they work, whether it's gluten, egg, dairy, soy, etc, free. Years of baking and recipes have given me some idea of how ingredients work together in cookies, breads and the like. But with GF recipes, all that goes out the window. I made some GF chocolate chip cookies a week ago that turned out incredibly flat and crispy and looked kind of.. holey. No idea why, because I don't know how the GF flour mix worked with the dairy free shortening and egg free substitute. The cookies were still delicious though, so that was a plus.

The cookies I made don't include a GF flour substitute. The dough is a simple combination of almond butter, sugars, egg, extract and baking soda. I didn't think they would actually turn out, but they ended up sweet and chewy/crispy (depending on the oven length--read on for notes about the recipe).

• I didn't have maple syrup, so I subbed in one tbsp of light corn syrup and one tbsp of honey. You could probably try brown sugar, all corn syrup, all honey or all pancake syrup.
• Bake time is listed as 10-12 minutes. I left the first batch in for 10 and the second for 11. I feel like the difference in texture between the two was actually significant--batch 1 was chewier and batch 2 was crispy. So it all depends on how you like your cookies.
• Next time, I'll brown the almonds before incorporating into the dough
• The dough was very oily when I was rolling it together. It's ok. They turn out great

Because the dough was so oily, it had a hard time holding onto the chocolate chips and almonds. I rolled the dough into balls to firmly incorporate everything. Since the cookies spread, though, I probably could've just scooped and let them sit on the sheet.

Almond Butter Cookies

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookiesAdapted from NPR

1 cup almond butter1/2 cup dark brown sugar1/2 cup granulated sugar1 large egg1 teaspoon baking soda1 tablespoon honey1 tablespoon light corn syrup1 teaspoon vanillaPinch of salt1/2 cup slivered almonds1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir almond butter and sugars together until well combined. Add egg, baking soda, honey, corn syrup, vanilla and salt and mix well. Stir in the almonds and chocolate chips.

Using a teaspoon, scoop out small, walnut-sized amounts of dough and roll them in your hands to form a ball. Place on cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes.