When you hear shortbread, you definitely don’t think healthy. In fact, you generally something close to the exact opposite comes in mind: a buttery, flaky calorie bomb. I wanted to create something that was free of refined sugar or white flour, but didn’t taste like it. These are both of those things, high in protein and equally melt-in-your mouth. It’s generally around 3pm when I go for a walk around the office to see if there is any chocolate laying around, so I like to bring one (or two) to work to have on hand when the craving start calling. With a cup of tea or homemade almond milk, they are truly the perfect afternoon snack.

Peanut butter and almond shortbread

Ingredients:

1 T butter

8 T chunky peanut butter

2 T maple syrup

1/4 t baking soda

1/4 t sea salt

1/4 t cinnamon

1 t vanilla

1 egg

3/4 cup of almond meal

chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Mix the butter, peanut butter, maple syrup, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Once it is smooth, fold in the egg and almond meal. Make sure not to over mix. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes and let chill. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Then take a spoonful of batter and roll into ball. Press down into each cookie with a fork and sprinkle with chocolate chips if you so choose (a choice I tend to make over and over again).