I’ve been reading a lot about the importance of being genuine on one’s page and I must confess, I haven’t been entirely truthful. We all know I love fresh produce etc but I also have a terrible sweet tooth. I love baking cookies, cakes, breads- you name it! (after all, one of the reasons why I enjoy working out a lot is so I can happily afford to indulge in these delicious creatures). I’m even bigger on eating them though…Thankfully, however, these almond meal cookies make for a nice balance!

And during the time of having this page, I’ve really only shared one or two baking recipes before and one of them was a bread recipe.

While it may be in vain, I do try to make my cookies and cakes somewhat healthier but in all honesty, when baking, dessert is dessert.

I believe in balance and moderation in a diet though, and while my penchant for sweets probably doesn’t fit in either of the of those categories (at least not with the amounts that I often consume), I’d like to start sharing them with you.

This has me very excited for recipes for December because my family goes all out when it comes to freshly baked cookies. Seriously- we don’t mess around; none of that cookie dough mix and Hershey’s Kisses stuff. We make everything from scratch and now that I think about it, we never use chocolate- not sure why we don’t use chocolate though…

So without further adieu, I give you my first official, intentionally not healthy, cookie recipe. I hope this sets the stage for other delicious recipes to come!

Cinnamon Spiced Almond Meal Cookies

Makes 8-10 Cookies

2/3 Cup sugar

1/2 Cup Butter, softened

1 Egg

1 TBSP Milk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Almond Meal

3/4 Cup Flour

3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour (I used a local variety called “Hard Red Spring Wheat”)

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Cardamon

1/4 tsp Salt

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a medium bowl beat the sugar and butter with a handheld mixture until whipped. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, mix together flours, spices and salt.

Add wet mixture to dry and knead in until dough begins to stick together.

Form small balls about 2 inches in diameter and flatten with cookie presses or the bottom of a glass (if the press sticks, add some flour to it) on baking sheets to about 1/4in thickness.

Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Rotate pans and cook for 5 minutes longer. The cookies should be ready once the edges are slightly browned.

Allow the cookies to cool on a rack, serve and enjoy!