Vanilla and Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies

If you are a regular Cupcakes and Couscous reader then you: a.) are awesome and b.) will probably know that I love a good cookie recipe. These cookies came about when the recipe I was actually trying to make went slightly off track, but luckily in a good way! 

Speaking of recipes going off track, I had a rather disastrous encounter with a gluten-free flour dessert last week. The texture of the end product was acceptable, but the taste was, as my four year old put it so emphatically, "not fine!" (Am I missing a trick here?) So it is back to the drawing board for that little idea, oh the life of a recipe developer! Anyway, I digress...  

On a scale of wildly spontaneous to precision planner I definitely lean more towards the planning side. I like things in order, and I like it even more when things go the way (I think) they should. But of course life is not always like that, and things do not always go according to the plan - sick children, broken geysers, flat tyres and all that. The same goes for recipes of course, and the result could go one of two ways - either straight into the bin (refer to gluten-free flour example above) or it could evolve into something deliciously fabulous, such as these moreish cookies.

These butter cookies contain ground almonds which give them a slightly nutty flavour (yum) and crunchy texture, plus they are drizzled with dark chocolate for extra decadence. You could even try milk or white chocolate chips for something different. 

So why choose between chocolate and vanilla when you can have both? You are welcome. 

Psst.... if you love cookies please check out my free ebook - click, download, keep and share!

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VANILLA AND CHOCOLATE ALMOND BUTTER COOKIES

Makes about 22 cookies

125g butter, softened

1/3 cup castor sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup flour

pinch of salt

1/3 cup ground almonds

1 tbsp cocoa

60g dark chocolate chips

Step 1.) Preheat your oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Step 2.) Using a freestanding mixer or electric beater, beat the butter until smooth. Add the castor sugar and cream together until pale and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla extract.

Step 3.) Sift in the flour and salt. Add the ground almonds and then beat until the mixture comes together.

Step 4.) Take one half of the dough out of the mixing bowl and gently knead with your hands for a minute to help bring it together. Set to one side. Sift the cocoa into the mixing bowl, over the other half of the dough. Beat in, then knead with your hands until the cocoa is fully incorporated.

Step 5.) Roll the vanilla dough into a sausage with a diameter of about 3cm. Do the same with the chocolate dough. Then, gently press the two rolls together, then roll them into a combined sausage that is about 30cm long / has a diameter of 3-4cm. (Yoh, we're getting technical here!)

Step 6.) Cut the roll into 1cm slices and arrange these on your prepared baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden at the bottom. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Step 7.) Melt the dark chocolate chips and pipe or drizzle over the cooled biscuits. Leave to stand for a few minutes so that the chocolate can set, then serve.