Chocolate Chunk Almond Cookies

Nuts can be a great addition to chocolate chip cookies, adding a crunch to cookies that need a little bit of texture to set off their buttery, chewy texture. Pecans and walnuts are popular additions, but these Chocolate Chunk Almond Cookies feature almond meal and toasted almonds for cookies that have a deeper, nuttier flavor and will still satisfy any chocolate chip cookie fan.

The dough is primarily made with all purpose flour, but it includes a small amount of almond flour. Almond flour, also known as almond meal, is very finely ground almonds. It gives the cookies a slightly denser texture – resulting in a chewier cookie dough overall – and adds in a touch of nutty almond flavor. The dough also includes toasted, slivered almonds and a generous amount of chocolate chunks.

The cookies are ready to bake as soon as you mix the dough together, but this recipe makes a pretty large batch and I don’t always bake them all off at once. Sometimes, I store the extra cookie dough in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours, baking it off in smaller batches. The refrigerated cookie dough produces cookies that have a very even spread and that seem to stay a touch chewier than the freshly baked cookies. If you do opt to chill your dough, you don’t need to bring it up to room temperature before baking as long as it is soft enough to shape into even balls of dough.

The finishing touch on these cookies is a pinch of salt added to each cookie before baking. That pinch of salt works really well with the almonds and gives the cookies an addictive salty-sweet finish. Coarse or kosher salt is the best choice for a finshing salty touch.

The cookies have a crisp edge when they come out of the oven, but these are chewy cookies with a great texture, thanks to that addition of almond flour in the dough. While almond flour isn’t known for having a strong flavor, it helps to highlight the toasted almonds that are also in the cookies. Be sure to use toasted almonds for the best results. The almonds work well with the generous amount of chocolate chunks and add nice crunch to the chewy cookies. You can buy chocolate chunks or make your own by chopping up a semisweet/dark chocolate bar, but you can also substitute chocolate chips if you don’t have chocolate chunks ready to go.

Chocolate Chunk Almond Cookies
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup almond flour (or almond meal)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 2/3 cups chocolate chunks (approx 10-oz)
2/3 cup sliced, toasted almonds
coarse/kosher salt, for topping

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, almond flour, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by vanilla extract. Stir in the flour mixture either by hand or with the mixer at low speed. Stir in chocolate chunks and almonds until evenly distributed.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls and arrange on prepared baking sheet leaving about 2-inches between cookies to allow for spread. Sprinkle cookies with a small pinch of coarse/kosher salt.
Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes, or until cookies are set and lightly browned on the edges. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 1/2 – 4 dozen.

The post Chocolate Chunk Almond Cookies appeared first on Baking Bites.