Almond Butter and Honey Ginger Cookies

As I'm writing this, the day is gray and dark. From my window, it's absolute madness outside. Rain has been pouring by the buckets full since yesterday and the wind is blowing in steady gusts of 25-35 miles per hour. After a great October, typical fall weather has officially arrived in the NW and it gave me every good reason to stay inside, curled up with a hot cup of tea never to far away.

The entire weekend was filled with inside activities. We carved pumpkins and watched movies. I started to knit myself some red mittens, I made some hot tomato and carrot soup, delicious, and I baked cookies. These were actually a bit of an experiment I've been thinking about ever since reading this blog about cashew butter, ginger and honey sandwiches back in May. I have no idea what took me so long, but it was worth the wait.

The sandwiches reminded me of my childhood because at a young age I didn't like p.b. and jelly sandwiches, but I loved p.b. and honey together. I must have been the only kid on the playground who didn't pull out a gooey, flattened, purple jelly seeping through the pale white bread sandwich. I still don't like them much. I thought the idea of adding ginger to the sandwich was a great touch, then thought of how good these flavors would go together as a cookie.

I'm amazed to say that these came out really well after my first attempt. I experimented with the baking times and methods and think I have found perfection. I love the spicy note of ginger, a perfect warming spice for a cold wet day. I used almond butter because I love it and it's flavor is much more subtle then peanut butter, I think any other neutral nut butter would work nicely. The spelt flour works really nice with these as well, but you could use regular or whole wheat pastry flour if you prefer. Honey is the only sweetener I used in these cookies except for them being rolled in the turbinado sugar. This is an optional choice, but I really recommend it because it gives a nice slight crunch to the outside before biting into the softer middle. If you wanted to make these vegan, you could replace the honey with agave and probably get similar results.

Almond Butter and Honey Ginger Cookies

makes 2 dozen

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup honey

3/4 cup almond butter

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 1/3 cup spelt flour

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

turbinado sugar for coating

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Lightly grease or spread parchment paper/silpat mat onto baking sheets.

In a medium bowl sift together flour, ground ginger, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream the butter with the honey and almond butter. Stir in the fresh ginger. Pour in the flour mixture and stir just until combined.

Pour the turbinado onto a small plate. Scoop out a rounded tablespoon of dough, roll into a ball and place in the turbinado sugar, coating evenly. Place the ball onto prepared cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Let them sit for a couple minutes on the baking sheet before removing and letting cool completely on rack. Do not over bake. Store tightly covered for a few days.