25 years… time has flown by!
Today we’re sharing with you a recipe for our healthy almond flour cookies and chatting a little bit about our 25th wedding anniversary.
Liz and I celebrated our 25th this month. Our gift to each other this year is a trip to Portugal. We’ll be visiting mainland Portugal, a first for me.
Liz’s family is from the mainland. She’s been there a few times, but it’s been over 30 years for her; and I’ve never gone past the Azores Islands. We can hardly wait for this trip!
Until then, we are celebrating locally. We both worked on our anniversary day, but Liz and I went out for a nice dinner date in the evening 😍. We definitely don’t do this enough. Don’t get me wrong, we absolutely love going out as a family, with our kids, but sometimes it’s nice to enjoy some “us time”.
Sometimes it’s nice to be cooked for
Sure, I love cooking, but it’s definitely nice to sit back and enjoy a delicious meal cooked by others. We picked up some dinner for the boys and then headed out to Sarpa, a wonderful Italian restaurant in our own neighbourhood.
Here’s the funny thing, while researching their restaurant, I read that their company just celebrated 25 years as well. How ironic.
For our meals, Liz had the veal limone and I enjoyed the grilled branzino fillet. It was so delicious! Our server and the dining room manager were welcoming and friendly. It was an all around amazing experience… and so close to home to boot.
…and for dessert
So their menu offered a great selecting of desserts, but unfortunately, having diabetes means sugary desserts aren’t the best option for me these days 😜. So I enjoyed a tasty espresso and passed on dessert. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t craving a treat; however.
Fortunately for me, I had a cookie jar full of healthy almond flour cookies with walnuts, that I’d just baked. These cookies are sweetened with a monk fruit and erythritol sugar blend, which doesn’t spike my blood sugar… perfect for those with diabetes and people on the Keto diet.
Note: if you’re a diabetic, make sure to check your blood before and after the first cookie. Everyone reacts differently to ingredients so it’s always a good idea to test.
Making them perfect took time!
I’ve been playing around with this recipe for some time now. I was happy with the flavour in previous versions but hadn’t quite nailed the texture…until now.
This recipe is crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. The chopped walnuts are a perfect touch. It’s dessert I can feel good about.
Wether you’re celebrating a special occasion or you just want a guilt-free snack, give these cookies a try, and eat well, friends.
- 2 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 tsp teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened (but not too soft)
- 3/4 cups monk fruit/erythritol sugar blend
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cups chopped walnuts
- Preheat the oven to 350 ºF.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Add the butter and sugar to a stand mixer bowl.
- Beat on medium high for about 4 minutes or until creamy and pale.
- Add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat for about 2 minutes or until well combined.
- Lower the stand mixer speed to 1 and add the chopped walnuts, mix for about 1 minute.
- Using a mini spring-loaded ice cream scoop, fill the scoop with dough and pop it out onto the parchment paper. You can also do this with a teaspoon and mold it into a ball by hand.
- Place 20 dough balls on the baking sheet (depending on the size of your baking sheeleaving about 2 inches between each cookie.
- Press each dough ball down with a fork, to flatten it a bit and make it look like traditional peanut butter cookies with the fork line markings.
- Place the baking sheet in the hot oven and bake for 14 minutes. You can leave it in for another minute if you like your cookies a little crunchier.
- Repeat the last 3 steps until all the cookie dough is used up. We made 33 cookies, but this can very depending on the size of your dough balls.
- Let each batch cool for about 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack for another 20 minutes. Let them cool completely before serving.
- Enjoy!
Don’t forget to let them cool complete before digging in. They tend to be crumbly before they’ve cooled.
Happy 25th anniversary you two!!! Can’t wait to try these cookies !
Thanks so much. Sorry… just saw this comment now 🙂 Take care.
like these almond cookie
Thanks so much for the kind feedback. It’s definitely a favourite at our home… and healthy to boot!
Can these be made with stevia? And if so how much?
Hi Jane, thanks for visiting our blog. I haven’t tried stevia for this recipe. If it were me, I’d try granulated stevia and use the same amount. If you try it, please let us and our readers know how it goes. Take care.