The Best Almond Butter Cookies - Only 4 Ingredients!

Okay, I blew it on this one!  I used real sugar (had a craving), but everything else is okay for the Food Intolerance Diet!  Oh, and they are not Vegan.  I won't be eating these all of the time, just for a splurge. ;)

 Dangerous to have in the house - Almond Butter Cookies

These cookies are awesome, quick to make (only 4 ingredients), but so good they are dangerous to have in the house.  

When is the best time to eat a cookie like this?  After a high-fiber meal (like a green salad with baby kale, chard, spinach, veggies and coleslaw mix).  Why?  Because it will help keep your blood-sugar from spiking from the sugar.  The high-fat and protein content (from the almond butter and the egg) will also help with this.

Ingredients: 
1 Cup Almond Butter
3/4 Cup White Sugar
1 Egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees - Makes 13 cookies.  13 is a lucky number for me; if you are superstitious you can make 14 smaller cookies. ;)

Blend egg and sugar together with a fork. Add vanilla and blend in almond butter.

Spoon onto a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Press down with a fork dipped in sugar (crisscross pattern like for Peanut Butter Cookies). 
Bake at 350 degrees for about 13 minutes.  Remove when they start to get brown on the edges.  They get crispier when they cool.  Oh so good!

Spicy Almond Butter Sauce

I've been making this sauce for several weeks, but I'm just now getting around to writing it down. It's a modification of my old Peanut Sauce recipe.  This is a great sauce for stir-fry, coleslaw salad or a dipping sauce for spring rolls.  I rarely use a real measuring spoon.  It's okay to adjust the ingredients to your own tastes, but don't skip any.  It has the perfect blend of fat, sweet, spicy, savory, salty, and sour.  You can use any nut butter you like.  

Tonight, we had this sauce over a quick stir-fry with a couple cups of coleslaw mix, about 5 handfuls of spinach and a package of steamed broccoli.  It's a very easy recipe!

Almond Butter Spicy 'Peanut' Sauce

(2 servings)

2 T Almond Butter (or peanut butter, cashew butter, etc.)
2 tsp Coconut Crystals (or other natural sweetener)
1 T Chili Garlic Sauce 
1 T Ginger Garlic Paste (see how to make it in the video below)
2 tsp Coconut Aminos (or soy if you don't have a sensitivity to it.)
2 tsp or more lemon or lime juice or white wine vinegar
Water to thin.

Mix everything together with a fork.  Add water to thin to desired consistency.

This is how you make the awesome ginger garlic paste!

Best Vegan Burgers

Best Vegan Burgers

Best Vegan Burgers 

(Makes 8 good size burgers)

Ingredients:

* 1 cup oats put in food processor and blended into flour. 
* 1/2 cup large onion, diced in food processor
* 1 can cooked black beans, pureed in food processor
* 1 large garlic clove, minced or 1 tsp garlic powder
* 1.5 tsp chili powder
* 1 tsp. cumin
* 1 tsp. oregano
* 2.5 tbsp ground flax 
* 1/2 cup warm water
* 3/4 cup gluten free baking mix (mine is made by Arrowhead Mills).
* 1-2 scoops (20 grams) pea protein powder
* 1 grated carrot
* 1/3 cup almonds, chopped
* 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
* Salt to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. 
Put 1 cup oatmeal in food processor and process until made into flour. You can also use a coffee grinder (not one you use for coffee).
Chop onion and beans in food processor (or dice and mash). 
Put onion, beans and oat flour in a bowl and mix.
Add spices, flax meal, gluten free baking mix, pea protein powder, carrot and nuts. Blend well with a fork, then add water. Salt to taste.

Add a little more water if the mix is too dry (I didn't have to add more water). The water helps to get the flax meal and baking mix working so it binds everything together with the beans. Some recipes tell you to mix the flax with water first. I never do this because I end up with lumps of flax that won't blend into the rest of the ingredients. 

Make into patties (helps to have your hands slightly wet) and place on lightly oiled baking sheet. Don't make the patties too thick or they will be doughy on the inside. Squash the patties flat so they are not too fat in the middle.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes. (Frying would work too if you want them crispier.)

You can make these patties and freeze them on a cookie sheet raw for baking at a later date. I cooked mine, then froze them. 

I've been a veggie since 1980. These are some of the best veggie burgers I've found. But, you must modify to your family's tastes (I never follow a recipe 'exactly'). We love these burgers!!

The next time I made these, I made them thinner.  They were not so doughy. ;) 

Spicy Nut Butter Sauce

Sauce for Steamed Veggies or Salad Dressing

2 T almond or cashew butter
1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional, just changes the flavor a little)
1 scoop pea protein powder (optional)
1 T fresh grated ginger
2 cloves fresh crushed garlic
1 T chili-garlic sauce (I love Sambal or the Vietnamese chili sauce with the rooster on the front).
Add water - Thin to desired consistency. If you make it too thin, add some flax meal to thicken it up again.
Salt to taste (the original recipe used soy-sauce)

This works great on a salad with spinach and coleslaw mix (I buy the already shredded mix). Add some chopped pea pods, green onions, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, and whatever else you like. If you want to up the protein/fiber even more, add white or black beans, they work well with this sauce. I would do this if I didn't have the protein powder in the sauce.

The above mix can be stir-fried or cold. Put the sauce on top and serve in a bowl. If served hot, you can add 1/2 cup or so of brown rice to the bowl before adding the veggies and the sauce.