Peanut Butter and Cocoa Almond Spread Cookies!

I recently discovered Trader Joe's Cocoa Almond Spread when searching for some Nutella to make these cookies. It is similar to Nutella, except made with almonds, and may even be better! These cookies are simply just... YUM! I adapted the recipe from Simply Scratch. I replaced the oats (not a fan) with almond meal, and was very pleased with the results. I also added in some vanilla extract in addition to using the Cocoa Almond Spread. Next time I will throw in some chocolate chips for added decadence! Drop a dollop of raspberry jam in the middle, and these very well could become one of my top most craveable cookies of all time!

Ingredients

1 egg

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon milk (I used soy)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup peanut butter (the crunchy works really well here!)

1/2 cup cocoa almond spread or Nutella
3/4 cup almond meal

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper.  In a large bowl, mix together egg, brown sugar, milk, vanilla, peanut butter, and almond spread. Add in salt, baking soda, and almond meal. Drop heaping teaspoons onto the prepared pan. Shape into a ball for nice, round cookies. Bake for 8 minutes. This timing was impressively exact! As difficult as it may be, let the cookies cool for 10 minutes before transferring from cookie sheet to serving plate, or mouth! 

Excellent alone by the spoonful!

mixing!

ground up almonds

peanuts, chocolate, and almonds, oh my!

The perfect cookie!

Enjoy!!!

Pumpkin Peanut Butter and Liver Dog Treats with a Dog Halloween Parade Recap

 I was inspired to make some treats for my dog, Pluto after seeing the annual dog Halloween costume parade at Tomkins Square Park while visiting New York. It was a beautiful fall day with many adorable dogs and creative costumes! My favorite was Borat. Here is a link to my photo album with pictures from the event: Parade pictures The dogs seemed so proud and happy to show off their costumes! They were definitely trained to wear the costumes with some very yummy treats. Evermore Pet Food had a booth set up with some samples for the dogs. The samples looked like Pâté. I decided to make some Liver Treats when I returned back to Boston. I also found a Pumpkin Peanut Butter biscuit recipe. Pluto loved both. The liver treats were difficult to stomach while preparing. I will spare you from seeing pictures of ground up raw meat being spread onto a baking dish. Not very appetizing for sure! This was my first time cooking liver. The recipe requires that you blend the liver. It looked like a liver milkshake. Again, I will spare you... unless you really need to see the pics for the recipe. I will provide them upon request. The smell while cooking is pretty distinctive and not pleasant. Windows were opened even though it was cold outside! Pluto was loving it. Dogs will go crazy for these treats. They are great for training if you can handle the prep! The pumpkin peanut butter biscuits are great for a fall themed gift. Play around with the recipes and add different ingredients. Dog treats are very easy to make. Both recipes will make enough to last for a while. I may never purchase dog biscuits again and have fun while creating my own!

Borat stole the show!