Sweets for M'sweets!

Welcome to The Edge of Reason ... And Beyond.  I've decided to dive head-first into the wonderful world of blogging.  What better time of year than Fall to take the plunge?  Blogging seems a natural outlet for journaling, and it offers a respite for my male Facebook friends who must wonder how the heck I manage to ramble on over the most mundane aspects of my life.  This (might) rein me in just a little bit over there.  Then again ... 

Please be gentle on me, kind souls.  This is my first entry, and it may look a bit skeletal.  I'll get better with practice and experience.  

Anyway, today I was inspired to whip up a batch of Almond Joy Cookies found on Pinterest.  Don't know about y'all, but I don't just randomly pin away in a mad jumble of craziness.  I made a deal with myself that when I reached a certain number of pins, I would make sure to accomplish a percentage of those pins in real life before pinning more.  Totally inspired plan, by the way.  My number of boards stays manageable, and when a board grows too large, a new board branches off.  Yay for me!  At least my digital world is sane!  

To digress for just a moment, a comment on the original recipe gave pause.  A dear soul (who freely admits she is "not a baker"), complained heartily about the recipe being a dud.  She suggested the cookies were dry and didn't taste a thing like the candy bar.  Yet she goes on to say how she didn't follow the directions!  Did she not read through the entire recipe before undertaking it?  Apparently not, as she mixed the sugar with the flour.  So she didn't follow the directions, chose to skip important steps, yet expected a perfect outcome.  What a great life lesson!  Read, ponder, consult the experts, and only then will the undertaking be a success.  Life without direction is a jumble.  My life without faith would be a bigger jumble.

So getting back to today's inspiration ... Almond Joy Cookies (link to original recipe).  Yum!  See below for my version.  I made a few adventurous adjustments, the gist of which follows.  

One of this week's accomplishments was processing coconut butter from Tropical Traditions' organic coconut flakes.  Like any nut butter, it's grand by the spoonful.  But as it was turning into liquid gold, I began to consider how I might substitute for other ingredients.  The obvious choice was to use it to enhance coconut flavor and as a substitute it for dairy butter.  Thus, I creamed butters and sugars in this recipe with a bit of coconut oil.  Voila!

Adding dry ingredients and yumminess comes next.  Try adding the sifted dry ingredients in two steps.  The almonds, coconut and chocolate chips only need gentle folding to evenly incorporate.  Do not over-mix.  I missed that pic, but here's a snap of what the batter looks like once dry ingredients are incorporated.

I'm a big proponent of "use what you have."  Found in the pantry were sliced almonds that I didn't have to chop.  Come to mama!  And milk chocolate chips that had weathered the heat of the summer, perhaps not as gracefully as some of you did.  They had that funny powdery coat that we all know doesn't change the quality of the chocolate.  Once baked, the chips were shiny and gorgeous.  Lastly, sweetened coconut was called for, but unsweetened organic coconut flakes (same ones that turned to coconut butter) were used.  No one will miss the extra sugar or preservatives.

Our *ahem* freshy-organized, spiffy-looking pantry deserve honorable mention just now.  Let's share a moment of silence and celebrate life's little victories, shall we?

OK, back to the cookies.  Considering store-bought lunchbox treats filled with preservatives and ingredients I can't pronounce, these cookies win  Maybe not quite as healthy as Energy Balls (need to replenish that supply next week), but filled with much of the same goodness.  

Coming up next, I pretend to use the beautiful potholders sewn for me by Mrs. Snow.  Of course, I don't actually use them.  If something stained them, I'd cry.

Don't these babies look great?  The batter bakes up quite nicely.  No little grease blobs here!

You may note in the background a vacuum-sealed container of these cookies.  The container is labelled "Old Fashioned Rolled Oats."  Who am I kidding?  They'll never buy it.

So that's it.  That's all she wrote.  For today.

Almond Joy Cookies ... I did it my way!  (Sung in the style of Frank Sinatra.)

INGREDIENTS --

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup coconut butter

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1-1/2 cups white sugar

1-1/2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

4-1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

5 cups chocolate chips

2 cups organic coconut flakes

2 cups chopped or sliced almonds

DIRECTIONS  --

Pre-heat oven to 375°F.  Lightly spray cookie sheets.  Sift together dry ingredients, set aside.  In a large bowl, cream the butter, coconut butter, coconut oil and sugars together.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla.  Stir in the dry ingredients, half at a time, until well mixed.  Then gently fold in the chocolate chips, coconut and almonds. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.  Bake for 10 minutes or until edges are golden.  Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.