Jeans McQueens Creative

Dark Chocolate Almond Bites

I love these little bit-size cookies. They’re sweet, nutty, high in both protein and fiber, and gluten-free! Recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup millet flour (for each of the above flours, I like Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 5 ounces dark chocolate finely chopped (I like Boston localTazaChocolates)
• 1/2 cup organic raw almonds finely chopped (I use my food processor)
• 1/2 cup unsalted organic butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup raw cane sugar (I like Wholesome Sweetners because they’re organic and fair trade)
• 1 large organic, free-range egg (farm fresh if you can)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon organic vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and begin by finely chopping the the almonds. You want them to almost be the texture of your flour. I do this in my food processor, but it can also be done by hand. Set aside. Next, finely chop your chocolate bar, this I do by hand, since it doesn’t seem to work in my food processor. You want the chocolate to be tiny, like shavings. With both the almonds and the chocolate we want to avoid big pieces and chunks.

Next, in a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients- all 3 flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, as well as the almonds and chocolate shavings. Set aside.

In a mixer (or by hand) beat the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to mix until its also light and fluffy. Next add the egg and vanilla until both are well incorporated, scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is well mixed. Remove from the mixer and add the flour mix by hand until a dough forms.

Now the trick to making them bites size is scooping out a spoon of dough and making two cookies from that spoonful. Roll each half into a ball then press flat in the palm of your hand before placing on the cookies sheet.

Bake cookies for 9 minutes or until cookies they are no longer soft in the middle. Remove from oven, cool on a wire rack, and enjoy.