Almond butter. I’ve always wondered, “Why all the fuss?” Well, I tried it for the first time a few weeks ago when a friend brought it to work as a dip for her veggies and crackers. I’ve never liked almonds so I didn’t have high expectations for “butter” made from them. Sadly, my expectations were correct when I ate a dollop on a cracker. It just tasted so boring and bland to me, but I’ll gladly admit that this was probably due to my overly sugar addicted taste buds.
I thought it might be a good time to try almond butter again since Justin and I have been about 90% sugar free for 2 months now (we stopped eating high carb foods and anything with added sugar). I’m happy I didn’t completely write it off because this cookie recipe was delicious and the filling was just amazing…cream cheese, honey, and vanilla, oh my! I still dislike the taste of raw almonds, but I definitely like them blended and cooked into other things! (I plan on making this recipe for Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups with my left over almond butter and then maybe this one for Almond Soba Noodles too.)
*Not only were these (air quote) healthy (air quote) cookies delicious, but they were fun to make as well. I can see this being a great recipe to make with a “mini” chef…kids would have a great time making the cookies into sandwiches!
*Want to make your own almond butter?? Check out this recipe for plain almond butter or this one for almond walnut coconut butter!
Whole-Wheat Almond-Butter Sandwich Cookies
Yield 2 dozen sandwich cookies
Recipe from "Martha Stewart Living" Magazine, March 2014 issue
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup creamy almond butter, stirred
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup sliced almonds, toasted and finely chopped
- 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 1 minute. Add the almond butter and beat it until it’s smooth. Beat in the brown sugar, then the egg, until it’s all well mixed. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add in the flour mixture until it’s just combined. Stir in the almonds.
- Form the dough into an 11-inch-long log, 1 3/4 inches in diameter. Wrap it in parchment and freeze it until it’s firm, about 1 hour (or up to 3 months).
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Using a chef’s knife, slice the log into scant 1/4-inch-thick rounds, using one quick motion for each slice. Arrange the rounds 1 1/2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, pressing them back into shape.
- Bake, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are light golden on their edges, for 8 to 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely on the sheets on wire racks. The cookies can be stored, covered, up to 5 days.
- For the icing, beat the cream cheese, honey, and vanilla with a mixer on medium speed until it’s all combined. Spread 1 tablespoon each on the bottoms of half of the cookies, then sandwich each one with the remaining cookies, pressing gently to spread the filling to the edges. (Note: Try to eat these cookies within at least 2 days. Over time, the cream cheese filling will soften the cookies, making them extremely crumbly. Store them in the refrigerator when they’re not being eaten.)