the new, lower-sugar cookies

I made good on my threat to make even lower-sugar chocolate-chip cookies. The chips themselves are still real semi-sweet chocolate, but because I switched out Truvia brown sugar, which is 50% real sugar, with BochaSweet brown "sugar," there is now no added sugar aside from the chocolate chips. I really should do the macros for this recipe. I assume the cashews, which are not considered the best for people attempting keto (best nuts = Brazil nuts, walnuts, and macadamias), also contain some carbs. Still, the cookies—which were already low-sugar when I was using Truvia—are now even lower in sugar. Expect a breakdown of the cookies' macros sometime next week. Frankly, I'm curious to see the macros myself.

Behold:

As always, these are made with almond flour, which means they need help to spread while baking, so part of the procedure involves smooshing the cookie-dough balls almost flat. I use some parchment paper and a small glass to press down on the cookies, which then bake at 163ºC/325ºF. In my quirky oven, I bake using only the bottom burner for nine minutes and thirty seconds, then I set the oven to use both top and bottom burners for two minutes and thirty seconds to ensure browning on top. Once done, the cookies are taken out and allowed to cool for at least an hour, which gives them a chance to harden. I usually end up with a batch of about sixteen cookies thanks to the addition of chocolate chips and crushed cashews (or other nuts), plus a bit of extra raw dough, which I eat as the "chef's tax." The recipe comes from ADIDAF (All Day I Dream About Food), whose keto recipes are generally good, with some occasional duds (like her keto bread). The cashews and BochaSweet are my own alterations.

I didn't get to make sauerkraut and coleslaw on Friday, so these become Saturday projects. With my batch of sixteen cookies, I can eat four a day for four days, but I'll likely be skipping this Sunday since I plan to go on a little walk from Yangpyeong to Yeoju—an all-nighter.

Oh, yeah: my other major alteration is that I use almond extract instead of vanilla extract, which makes these cookies smell and taste insanely good. I don't know that I'll ever use sugar-free chocolate chips to make these; I feel as if that would ruin them, rendering them insipid. With almost all of the carbs gone (except whatever's in the almond flour and the cashews), they'd be boring. Munch on, O brave ones!