I’d like to say this is my own recipe, but it’s not, really… but I changed a significant about of things, tried things I wasn’t certain of and am happy with the the results thus far. A lot of credit has to go to Two Peas & Their Pod, for the Chocolate Nutella Recipe they posted. I actually think I made their Nutella cookies a while back, but can’t find the post at the present moment. I bought some Cocoa Almond Spread at Trader Joe’s recently (it’s very yummy) and thought I’d put it in a cookie.. so I went with it.
Anyway.. here’s my adapted recipe for the cookies I made:
Ingredients (makes about 16ish 3” cookies)
- 1 1/4 cups AP flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 salt
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla ext
- 1 teaspoon almond ext
- 1/3 cup chocolate almond spread
- 1/3 cup soy milk
- lightly toasted, sliced almonds (optional)
Directions
1. Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and sugars. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about two minutes. Add the vanilla and almond extract and beat until extracts disappear. Add the chocolate almond spread and mix until batter is smooth.
2. Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the soy milk, mixing well. Chill dough for at least 15 minutes before baking.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Take a tablespoon (I used one of my ice cream/cookie scoops) of cookie dough and roll it into a ball. Place on lined baking sheets and gently press down on the dough ball. Leave about 2” between the cookies. Lightly push in the almond slices (I tried a couple of different things, but I like the ones that looked like sand dollars the most).
4. Bake cookies for 15-18 minutes or until soft, but starting to set. Remove cookies from the oven and let cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
I want to experiment with them some more… maybe adding eggs, making thumbprint cookies with the cocoa almond spread in the middle, making them vegan (they’re almost there already). I’ll be sure to share the process!
Sidenote: I used baking soda in this recipe (instead of baking powder like in the Nutella cookies) because I didn’t have Dutch process cocoa… it’s science related, and I think I made the right decision, and that, I am proud of. Yay me!
