Almond chocodoodle cookies - an original recipe that is exceptional!

by Tom Cloyd - 3 min. read - (reviewed 2025-02-23:1555 Pacific time (USA))

Craggy-looking, but with a tender, spicey heart, these cookies worked on the first try better than I might have hoped. In their ingredients, you may discover several surprises -ground almonds, whole grain flour, some butter replaced by applesauce, and some chopped chocolate.

I start with classic snickerdoodles, substitute my coarse white whole wheat flour for the original white flour, then replace half the flour with ground almonds. I replace half the butter with plain applesauce.

Finally, I chop some chocolate chips and add them to the dough. From there on, they are treated like a normal snickerdoodle, but they look darker and bake up in a mound, not a pancake shape. And they are tender and delicious.

Ingredients ^{^}

almonds, ground: 114 gr. (about 3/4 cup) - to get this, grind a scant cup of almonds in a food processor until they look like fine sawdust - but no finer. Depending on the size of your processor, you may need to grind a larger amount. Don’t worry, you’ll be making these cookies again, I predict!
flour, whole wheat: 114 gr (3/4 cup) - I use a moderately coarse white whole wheat flour I make myself from bagged white wheat I get at Winco, but regular whole wheat flour should work fine, as should pastry whole wheat flour.
baking soda: 1/2 t
cream of tartar: 1/2 t
OR: replace the soda and cream of tartar with 1 t baking powder. It’s unlikely that you’ll notice any difference, especially with this recipe.
butter, cool (~65F): 4 T (1/2 stick), cut into 1/2” cubes
sugar: 3/4 cup
cinnamon: 1/2 T (1.5 t)
salt: a healthy pinch - only if your butter is unsalted
applesauce: 1/4 cup
egg: 1 large, cold
vanilla extract: 1/2 T
3/4 c dark chocolate chips, chopped up a bit (or use mini-chips)
for coating the cookies: 3 T sugar + 1 T cinnamon

Procedure ^{^}

If you are going to bake immediately, turn oven on to 350F. Place a rack in the middle of the oven.

Mixing ^{^}

In a medium small bowl, mix up the first 3 Ingredients
In a medium small bowl, cream the butter until pale yellow and fluffy
To the butter add the sugar, cinnamon, and salt (if needed), and mix it in well
To the butter mixture, add the applesauce, egg, and vanilla. Mix it in just until reasonably well blended
To butter mixture, add and stir in the chopped chocolate chips
If necessary, transfer the butter mixture to medium bowl, then add in flour mixture. Mix it in by folding it with a large wooden or plastic spoon. Don’t worry about over mixing. Just make sure all the flour is mixed in.
The dough is usable immediately, but can be refrigerated for later use.
For coating the cookies, mix up 3 T sugar and 1 T cinnamon in a 2 cup container with straight sides.

Baking ^{^}

I use a 1.5 T cookie scoop. One could use a tablespoon measure, and somewhat mound the dough, to approximate this. Use the dough as it’s shaped by the cookie scoop, or form a rough ball if using the tablespoon measure.
Drop each dough ball into the cinnamon/sugar mixture and roll it around to coat it.
Place the dough balls 2” apart on a cookie sheet - ideally using parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. If using a cookie scoop, place the flat side down. If your dough is in a ball, flatten it to about 3/4”.
Bake for 14-18 minutes. With my oven set carefully at 350F (I use an oven thermometer, I find that 16 minutes is perfect.) There will like be a crack through the middle, and little or no evidence of browning.
Let cookies rest a full 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then cool on a rack.
They are best if allowed to cool and then rest in a sealed container for at least 4 hours. The flavors will blend, and they will become more uniform in texture. BUT they are also wonderful after only a 5 minute rest!

The dough should freeze well, as should also the cookies. Allow to thaw slowly at room temperature.

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