Maple Almond Cookies

Nuts... my pantry is full of nuts.  Almonds mostly, that I was saving up for some cooking project that I now can't recall.  My roommate and I cleaned our pantry out and found jars of nuts, along with jars and jars of lentils and rice (which I will make into some soup; stay tuned!)  I knew I wanted to make some nutty cookie and maple was the first flavor that came to mind.  I love maple syrup, it reminds me of New England, where I grew up.  As a child I was allergic to chocolate and my mom was always trying to find other desserts I could eat, and maple sugar candy was one of them.  If you don't know, maple sugar candies are maple sugar molded into little shapes like a maple leaf or a little Pilgrim.  They have a pure sweetness to them.  So, I decided to make some maple sweetened almond cookies and they turned out to be deliciously comforting!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of gluten free flour (I used rice and chick pea flour)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 Earth Balance
• 3/4 cup of maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsps of almond extract
• 1/4 cup of ground flax seed (or one large egg)
• 1/4 cup of sliced almonds
• Whole almonds to decorate the top

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients (except the almonds)
3. Mix the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients slowly until blended.
4. Mix in the sliced almonds.
5. Form small balls of dough and flatten onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
6. Press a whole almond into the top of each cookie.
7. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes (careful not to over cook or it will become too dry!)
8. Remove from the oven and enjoy a cookie with a cold glass of rice milk or almond milk!