RECIPE: Make Your Own "Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties"

My favorite part of being a Girl Scout was always cookie season. From the Caramel deLites to the Peanut Butter Sandwiches, I gorged myself on cookies and begged my parents to buy box after box - for the cause, of course.  These days, while cookie season is still limited to a 6-8 week window of the year, you can locate cookies online or through an App on your phone. Genius! But if your cookie stockpile is running low outside of cookie season, what can you?! Here's a recipe that comes pretty close to the delicious perfection of the "Girl Scout Peanut Butter Pattie." Plus, this recipe is gluten-free!

"Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties"

You will need:

2 cups almond flour
¼ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons vegan shortening (more common Crisco can also be used)
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ cup almond butter (or peanut butter)
1 cup dark chocolate chunks (I like the Enjoy Life! brand)

Get Baking! 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a mini doughnut pan with coconut oil (or other cooking oil/spray)

2. In a food processor (I use my blender), combine almond flour, salt and baking soda. Then, pulse in shortening, honey and vanilla until well combined.

3. Take your dough and fill the doughnut pan. Put in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes (or until the tops of the cookies are sufficiently browned).

4. Remove cookies from baking sheet and carefully place on a covered, hard surface. For this part, I like to quickly flip the doughnut pan so all the cookies land on a cutting board that I've already covered with foil.

5. Once on the flat surface, fill each cookie with a spoonful of almond butter. Then, put in your freezer for 20 - 30 minutes.

6. While your cookies are hardening in the freezer, get out a sauce pan and start melting your chocolate (you could also do this in the microwave, but the melted chocolate tastes better when melted on the stove top).

7. Remove the cookies from the freezer and cover all sides of each cookie generously with melted chocolate.

8. Put cookies back in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy!