I know she got these out of a natural health magazine many years ago and that these are good, real good, that’s all I will write. Smell the almond.

About 3 1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 24 whole almonds
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 2/3 cup almond butter
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest.

How

Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly grease 2 backing sheets

Blanch the almonds in boiling water for 45 seconds. Drain and rinse under cold running water, squeeze each almond to pop it out of its skin; transfer almonds to cookie sheet and toast in the oven for 8 minutes.

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together maple syrup, almond butter, melted butter, vanilla and almond extracts and orange zest until smooth.

Fold the flour mixture into the almond butter mixture.

Form the dough into walnut sized balls. Place the balls 3 inches apart on the backing sheet and gently flatten into 1 ½ inch rounds. Press an almond into each cookie. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through for even baking. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool until crisp.

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Is this true?

Almonds are not nuts.  In fact, an almond is the seed of the fruit of the almond tree.  This tree bears fruits with a “stone-like” seed within.

Fruits with these characteristics are called “drupes”.  Specifically, a drupe is a fruit that has an outer fleshy part surrounding a shell that contains a seed.  Other drupes include fruits from walnut trees and coconut trees.

The seed inside the almond fruit is what is commonly referred to as an almond “nut”, even though it’s not a nut.  A nut is a hard shelled fruit that has an indehiscent seed; more simply, a hard shelled fruit that doesn’t open to release its seed(s).  An example of a true nut would be an acorn or chestnut.

This all gives a whole new perspective to the famous Almond Joy jingle “Sometimes you feel like a nut; sometimes you don’t”.  When you feel like a nut, an Almond Joy wouldn’t do you any good due to the ingredients primarily comprising of chocolate (bean), coconut (seed), and almonds (seed).  The ending of the jingle, like so many advertisements, is then just plain false advertising: “Almond Joy’s got nuts” (LIES!!!), “Mounds don’t”.

Read more at http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/04/almonds-are-not-nuts/#SMiq8OzorPKfmDkT.99