cookie saturday

A few weeks ago, after a couple months of consistently drinking lots of wine and eating at some seriously amazing restaurants, I did a 5-day cleanse to get back on track. No, it wasn't Gweneth's Goop cleanse. I did an all-natural juice cleanse that has become New York City's go-to (if you live outside of Manhattan, don't worry! They deliver!). I had a great week drinking my juices, sleeping better than I ever had, and watching my skin turn from summer dull to bright and glowing (I highly recommend it).

On day 5, inspired by my newly "cleansed" body and preparing to eat solid foods again, I spent hours scouring the Internet for "healthy" foods that I could incorporate into my new diet. When you stop eating for 5 days, some people get a little nutty - f0r me, the nuttiness manifested itself in a shopping trip to my local natural foods store to stock up on necessities: manna bread, nori, almond butter, and apple cider vinegar, to name a few.

Two days into eating solids, I was back to my old habits (read: eating normal food) and had a pantry full of random ingredients in need of using. The manna bread made a great morning treat and I used the nori for some lettuce wraps with an apple cider vinegar vinaigrette, which left me with a $12 (unbelievable) jar of almond butter.

We had a break from the summer humidity today so I found a recipe I didn't mind heating up my studio apartment for. I guess the irony is that I decided to make unhealthy cookies with my last "healthy" ingredient :)

These are super yummy and I loved the rich combination of the almond butter and walnuts. They're a great alternative to regular chocolate chip cookies so make sure you have some unsuspecting friends to unload them on... they're way too easy to pop into your mouth straight out of the oven!

Almond Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips

Adapted from Bon Appetit

1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup creamy natural almond butter (make sure to stir the oil into the butter)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 package semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter, almond butter, and both sugars in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated. Soften dough slightly at room temperature before shaping.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using 1 level tablespoon for each cookie, roll dough between palms of hands into 1-inch balls. Arrange 1 inch apart on prepared sheets.

Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are golden brown, about 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets on racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool. (Can be made 5 days ahead. Store airtight between sheets of waxed paper at room temperature.)