Since my first attempt at baking with coconut sugar was such a success, I could hardly wait to try making other cookies ~ you know, just to verify that it carmelizes well and tastes good in all cookie recipes! Quality assurance testing 😉

Luckily, Valentine’s Day rolled around, which brought into my hands a brand-new heart-shaped cookie cutter. Awwwww!

Around here, we loooooooove our almond butter. I’m a fan of raw but my honey likes it roasted, so we switch it up. I made these cookies with raw almond butter, but I know that depending where you are in the country (or world!), raw almond butter can be hard to find and/or extremely expensive.

The point is, ANY nut butter would make these cookies work! Peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, cashew butter… ooooh, I’m getting ideas! Must. Make. More. Cookies.

Ahem. Once we polish these off, that is.

If you’re in a rush ~ or super-eager to get these cookies into your belly ~ you don’t have to make them cut-outs, either!

Instead of refrigerating the dough (see Step 6, below), use it right away. Roll it into 1″ balls and press flat with the back of a fork, then bake at 350F for 12 minutes. Refrigerating helps stiffen the dough, making it easier to handle for cut-outs… but if you just can’t wait, then go for it!

Almond Butter Cut-Out Cookies (Vegan)

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups pastry flour (I used Arrowhead Mills Organic)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
• 2/3 cup raw almond butter
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tsp. coconut (palm) sugar
• 1/4 cup rice milk, almond milk, or coconut milk
• 2 tsp. grated fresh ginger OR 1 tsp. ginger powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Steps

1. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Beat together the almond butter and 3/4 cup of coconut sugar. Beat in the milk until fluffy, followed by the ginger and vanilla.
3. Stir in the dry mix at low speed or by hand until just combined. Do not over-mix.
4. Gather the dough into 2 balls and knead each one a few times. Flatten each ball into a disk, then cover and refrigerate 3 hours or up to 2 days.
5. Preheat oven to 350F.
6. On a lightly floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll one disk of dough at a time unti it is 1/6-inch thick. Press together any dough cracks with your fingers.
7. Cut shapes with cookie cutters or a paring knife. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to parchment-lined baking sheets. Re-roll the dough scraps and continue until you’ve used all the dough.
8. Sprinkle the top of each cookkie with a pinch of the remaining coconut sugar.
9. Bake about 12 minutes, until just dried on top and light brown on bottom.
10. Cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Adjust the recipe as necessary for your needs and tastes. You can determine the nutritional content of your final product using Recipe Calculator.

Do you like almond butter?

Do you eat nuts, and if so, do you have a favorite?