Friday Food Craft: Almond Joy Cookies!

I've got another sweet treat for you all today, and it can be done a couple different ways, both delicious! I adapted together a couple cookie recipes, and added some yummy mix-ins to get these chewy cookies with the chocolate, coconut and almond goodness of an Almond Joy candy bar! If you have a nut allergy, don't worry, you could easily leave out the almonds and have your own Mounds flavored treat instead. Actually, you can easily adapt this recipe to just about any cookie flavor you want, don't let me influence you too much :)

To make these scrumptious cookies you will need:

2 sticks Unsalted Butter, At Room Temperature
¾ cups Brown Sugar
¼ cups White Sugar
3.4 ounces-a 4 serving size box of Jello Coconut Cream Instant Pudding Mix*
2 whole Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2-¼ cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 pinch Salt
1 cup Bittersweet chocolate chunks
½ cup Unsweetened coconut flakes or shredded coconut pieces
½ cup sliced or slivered almonds

Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line two baking sheets with some parchment paper, or a Silpat Baking Liner. Set these aside.

In the bowl of your mixer, combine the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.

On medium speed, beat in the pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla extract.

On low speed, mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Be careful to mix only until combined (do not over mix!).

Stir in the chocolate chunks, coconut and almonds (I happened to have some Almond Joy Pieces candies, so I threw those in for good measure with my other mix ins).

Use a measuring tablespoon or cookie scoop to scoop out the cookie dough onto the lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are just turning golden and the centers are just set.

Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, before cooling completely on cooling racks. Enjoy!


* You can easily substitute Vanilla or French Vanilla pudding into this recipe, or use any flavor you like and any mix ins you prefer!