Happy Fall everyone (almost winter)! My kitchen has been all about pumpkin lately, but decided to go back to an old classic…chocolate chip cookies :). My birthday was a few weeks ago, therefore I naturally had cake on my brain.
As I get older I feel my birthdays start to run together…does anyone else feel this way?! I actually had to ask myself if I was turning 31 or 32! I spent this birthday cleaning out garages, storage areas, etc…yes thrilling I know…but it ended with wine and dessert therefore I did just fine. My birthday may change over the years, but one constant is dessert…I will always make myself a birthday dessert.
I pulled out old recipe books/cards, as well as the hundreds of magazine pages I’ve ripped out and saved over the years, to see if anything sparked my interest. I came across tons of cakes, brownies, etc., but I kept coming back to the idea of ice cream sandwich cookies. Why? I do not know…especially considering it is cold out!? Maybe hormones or sleep deprivation:)? Anyways, I went with it!
I remembered the coconut butter cookies I made a couple years ago and thought they’d be perfect with ice cream! I looked over the recipe and wanted to see if I could make them even better…so I wasted no time and headed straight into the kitchen.
The final product was SO good! The cookies are soft, fluffy balls of pure good-ness! I think Taylor ate half of them that day :). I will say many of my recipe trials do not go well on the first attempt, but the birthday fairy must have been with me in the kitchen that day.
To complete my birthday dessert, I allowed some ice cream to soften a bit and scooped it onto the cookies to create ice cream sandwiches. After assembling, I sealed them in plastic wrap and then into a freezer bag. A few hours later I had the exact birthday dessert I hoped for!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8-10 minutes
Total Time 25-30 minutes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut butter
- 1/3 cup almond butter (runny)
- 2 T light coconut milk (from can)
- 2/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 cup spelt flour
- 1/3 cup buckwheat flour
- 1/3 cup oat flour
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (dairy free)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Next melt coconut butter by placing the jar of coconut butter in a saucepan. Fill pan with water until 1/2 to 3/4 of jar is covered by water. Heat over medium heat to soften the solid butter into a runny consistency, stirring every couple of minutes. Do not bring the water to more than a light simmer. This should take about 10 minutes. Once complete, set aside to cool for ~ 5-10 minutes.
3. In a large bowl combine cooled coconut butter, almond butter, coconut milk, coconut sugar, egg and vanilla. Combine by whisking wet ingredients together with a spatula.
4. In a second smaller bowl combine flours, coconut, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir briefly to combine and add to bowl with wet ingredients. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet via spatula. Add mini chips and briefly fold again.
5. Use a standard…or jumbo:).. cookie scoop to arrange mounds of dough on prepared baking sheet. Bake standard size scoop for approximately 8-10 minutes in preheated oven, and larger scoop (ice cream size) for 10-12 minutes.
6. The cookies are done when the tops crack and the outer layer appears set. The center will still be soft… You do not want to over-bake these as with any other chocolate chip cookie :)….gooey = great.
Notes
- You can sub the flours above if you do not have them on hand. All purpose flour, whole wheat flour, or a 1-1 gluten free flour blend will work well. I use a variety because the buckwheat flour provides a light/tender crumb. The oat flour adds a tad of sweetness/oat”ti-ness” to the cookies. Spelt flour is not gluten-free, but has less gluten and easier to digest.
- You could sub the coconut butter for another nut butter, but I highly recommend using coconut butter. It may very well be my favorite food :).
- Coconut sugar can be replaced with 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/3 cup light brown sugar if needed. The coconut sugar gives a different taste to the cookies…one I love, therefore do not recommend subbing. Coconut sugar is easy to find in almost all stores.
- The coconut milk can be swapped for any milk of choice. I prefer a milk that is not fat free.
- The cookies will soften a tad when stored in an air-tight container.
- I linked many of the items I use above in the ingredient list.