Almond Butter, Maple & Sea Salted Cookies.

I love the week between Christmas and New Years. All the hubbub from the holiday is behind and I feel like I can finally settle into some peace and quiet, and reflect on the coming year. I love writing out all my family's birthdays in my new planner and making goals for the fresh year. There is something cleansing about this week. Of course, this year, things look entirely different, with my newborn waking me up at all hours and filling my days with exhausting and wonderful snuggles. I am so grateful that this little boy decided to make his debut before 2017. Thank you Daxton!

I wanted to share this cookie recipe because this is the week for baking! And sharing cookies with relatives and hunkering down and watching movies. This is one of those recipes that is a bit more guilt-free, according to the author (you probably know how much I love the recipes from Gwyneth Paltrow's book, It's All Good). She claims that these cookies give all the satisfaction of a treat with no guilt (I can attest to that). This recipe is free of sugar, so the cookies are the perfect sweet pick-me-up when you're really trying to be good but craving something a little sweet and salty. Kind of carmel-ly, almost. Actually, they're a little dangerous to have around the house, for that very reason. They're still a cookie, but using maple syrup and almond butter, instead of traditional ingredients, lowers the overall glycemic index of this baked treat. So enjoy!

Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups flour*
- 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 cup natural almond butter
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. Maldon sea salt (I get mine at Williams Sonoma, but you can also snag it off Amazon in this two-pack. The most delicious salt on Earth, seriously.)

* If you would like to make this recipe gluten-free, feel free to use a gluten-free flour. If the flour doesn't include xanthan gum, make sure to add 3/4 tsp.

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, fine sea salt and baking powder.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond butter (I heated mine to make it more whisk-able), maple syrup and vanilla.
4. Thoroughly combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
5. Use a spoon to scoop out tablespoon-sized dough and roll into a ball in your hands. Space the cookie dough balls about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
6. Press each dough ball down a bit, so it forms a disk on the baking sheet.
7. Sprinkle each cookie with a bit of the Maldon Salt.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes, and make sure to let the cookies cool on a rack before serving.

Yum you guys. These are best if served with, what else - MILK. Santa would have probably liked these. Haha TOO BAD. Love to you all. Let me know if you make these! Would love to know what you think! xo

Pomegranate, Oat, & Dark Chocolate Cookies

I wanted to make a festive cookie in honor of the Christmas season, and this little one was born. I LOVE IT. I've been doing a lot of experimenting with pomegranate lately and I am loving every single use for it. On salads, in drinks, and now, in cookies! In this recipe, the pomegranate seeds replace the raisin in a typical oatmeal cookie, and they add a much brighter punch to this one. And the dark chocolate mixed with the flavor of the pomegranate juice... mmm it's sinfully good. Surprisingly, the pomegranate arils hold up remarkably well during the baking process.

This recipe is essentially for a double batch (around 60 cookies), but I purposely made it this way because these are the best cookies to share! Also, if you make a ton of the dough, then you can just leave it in your freezer and pop a few cookies in the oven whenever you have a hankering :) But you can obviously cut this recipe in half if you have more self control than me. I find myself waking up at 3am like, MUST HAVE POM COOKIES. It's a wonderful problem. Prepare to get addicted, friends.

Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups organic flour
- 2 cups oats
- 1 cup pomegranate arils (here's a great tutorial on how to remove pomegranate seeds from the fruit)
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips (or you can use semi-sweet - I love these from Ghiradelli)
- 1 cup butter, softened at room temperature (I love using salted Kerrygold - you can taste the difference!)
- 1 cup organic brown sugar
- 1/2 cup organic granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- a pinch of cinnamon

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 and lightly grease your baking sheets.

2. Using a beater or mixer, cream together the butter and the sugars. TASTE IT. That, right there, is like my favorite taste on Earth. Savorrrrrrrr. Okay, moving on.

3. Once the butter and sugars are creamy and smooth, add in the eggs and vanilla. Continue to mix well.

4. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir them together until the ingredients are evenly mixed.

5. While your mixer is on, slowly add the dry mix into the butter/sugar situation. Allow the mixtures to combine before adding more dry mix. Continue this until the dry mix is completely mixed in. Oh dough.

5. Finally, using a spoon, stir in the chocolate chips and pomegranate arils. Be gentle with the pomegranate, because those seeds might burst if they are handled too vigorously. Protect the seeds, and they will be good to you.

6. Spoon out the dough mixture and roll the dough into 1-inch balls (a little smaller than a ping pong ball), placing them an even distance apart on the baking sheet.

7. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes. They might not look completely done when you take them out of the oven, but take them out! You really don't want this cookie crispy, because it is SO GOOD when it's just lightly golden. Trust me here. If you have a cookie rack, transfer the cookies and allow them to cool for a few minutes.

I'm excited for you to try these! I like to pretend these are okay to eat for breakfast because they have oats in them... so I eat them for breakfast.

If you give them a whirl, please leave a comment below and let me know what you think. Happy munching and sharing this Christmas season, my friends! xox.

P.S. - My giveaway for this 2016 Papermoss Post Card Calendar ends tonight and the winner will be contacted tomorrow. Make sure to place your entry!