Cookie Butter Bites

We don't have a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods in my town so any time one of my friends or family members goes out of town I request that they visit either store and bring me back some vegan treats! A few weekends ago my roommate traveled to San Antonio on a business trip for a week. When he came back he had a large bag full of vegan goodies that he had picked up from Trader Joe's. One of these treats was the Speculoos Cookie Butter. Now I am not normally a peanut butter fan. I love the taste but the oily texture of the jar peanut butter weirds me out. The only peanut butter I can normally stand consistency wise is PB2, so you can imagine I was a little apprehensive about trying this cookie butter thing. But wow. I was shocked by how much I actually loved it! The consistency is much more creamy than oily with a nice kick of gingerbread. It kind of tastes like you are eating creamed gingerbread cookies. Within minutes of trying some I knew I wanted to experiment with it! So I put my thinking cap on and got real pensive. I decided I would use the cookie butter to add a twist to the traditional peanut butter cookies recipe. The result was a soft cookie bite that was perfect for afternoon tea or a snack. These cookies are not so overpoweringly sweet that you have to stop after 1 and chug a gallon of water. In fact you probably won't stop after 6. I know I didn't. 

Recipe adapted from 17 and Baking

Ingredients

1/2 cup of Cookie Butter

3-4 tbsp of vegetable oil

3/4 cup of maple syrup

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup of almond milk (my preference is the Almond Breeze 30 Calorie Original)

2 cups of unbleached flour

1 tsp baking soda 

3/4 tsp salt

Chocolate Coating

1/2 bag of Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips 

3-4 tbsp of coconut oil 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper 

2. Combine Cookie Butter, vegetable oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl.

3. Slowly stir in dry ingredients until fully combined. 

4. Roll pieces of the dough into balls roughly 1 inch in diameter. You should be able to roll the dough without it sticking too much to your hands.

5. Using the back of a fork, slightly flight each ball on the cookie sheet. 

6. Bake for 10-11 minutes.

7. Allow cookie bites to fully cool before starting on your chocolate coating.

8. Whisk together chocolate chips and coconut oil in a small pan over medium heat. Continue to whisk until creamy.

9. Using a fork you can dip your cookie bites into the chocolate sauce either covering half of the bite or submerging it entirely. 

10. Allow cookies to set in a cool dry place for about 30-45 minutes or until chocolate is no longer tacky.