The Easiest Peanut Butter Macadamia Nut Cookies
If you're looking for a tasty treat without the sugar overload, here's a dessert recipe you can feel good about from Chef Laura Lea.
All of this working from home can take a toll on the waistline — especially for those of us with a sweet tooth. We asked Certified Holistic Chef Laura Lea, of LL Balanced, to share one of her favorite low-sugar recipes that satisfies the craving without the post-consumption sugar crash.
Laura Lea says her cookie recipe, which she refers to as “the easiest peanut butter macadamia nut cookies,” comes together quickly and has a fairly simple ingredient list. She also explains that the cookies are super versatile — you can substitute a different nut butter, add white chocolate chips or dried cranberries, omit the nuts, or get even more creative with your ingredients if you’re feeling ambitious.
Though thoughts of gaining the “COVID-15” may be looming, Laura cautions us to go easy on ourselves. “We’re out of our routines. We have new and increased stresses, and we don’t have access to healthy food as much as usual,” she says. “There’s nothing wrong with you, and you’re not stuck. If you want to just relax and enjoy a few more indulgences until life is a little more ‘normal,’ that’s totally cool.”
To that, we say bring on those delicious (and less sugar-filled) cookies! Here’s the recipe:
Peanut Butter Macadamia Drop Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 large room temperature egg
- 3 ⁄4 cup runny peanut butter pourable consistency; can use chunky or creamy
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ⁄4 tsp baking soda
- 1 ⁄2 cup coconut sugar sub 6 Tbsp monk fruit
- 1 ⁄3 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 ⁄3 cup roasted salted macadamia nuts* roughly chopped
- Optional: Maldon/large flake sea salt for garnish
*You can use raw macadamia nuts, in which case I suggest adding 1⁄4 teaspoon salt to the batter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with nonstick parchment paper.
- Crack an egg into a large mixing bowl and check for shells, then add all remaining ingredients EXCEPT macadamia nuts.
- Whisk until evenly incorporated, then fold in chopped macadamia nuts.
- Dollop approximately 2 tablespoons batter per cookie onto your baking sheet, leaving at least 1" between each.
- Sprinkle with a tiny bit of Maldon/large flake salt, if using. (You should be able to get about 10 cookies in the first batch.)
- Bake for 8-10 minutes (8 for a more gooey cookie and 10 for a more firm cookie.)
- Cool for 2-3 minutes before putting on a cooling rack.
- Repeat with remaining dough.
*Cookies will keep tightly sealed at room temperature for two days, in the refrigerator for six days, or frozen four to six months.
Nutrition
Thank you to Chef Laura Lea of LL Balanced, for the delicious recipe contribution.
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Jenna von Oy Bratcher
Jenna von Oy Bratcher is StyleBlueprint's Editorial Operations Manager and Lead Content Editor. The East Coast native moved to Nashville almost two decades ago, by way of Los Angeles. She is a lover of dogs, strong coffee, traveling, and exploring the local restaurant scene bite by bite.