Believe it or not, my kids don't like peanut butter (which people always seem to be astounded at). So as you would imagine, peanut butter cookies are not their favorite. When I was recently craving peanut butter cookies, I tried something new—almond butter in place of peanut butter. I did this for three reasons: 1) as a foodie, I'm cursed in that I can seldom make the same thing twice, 2) I hoped the kids would be fooled by the almond butter and like the cookies, and 3) I had a jar of almond butter in the fridge. I'm happy to report a success on all fronts. The almond butter was fabulous in the cookies, and the kids did like them, not suspecting peanut butter was in them at all.

Unfortunately, they didn't like them as well as my husband and I, who scarfed up most of them to the detriment of our waistlines. We were comforted in the fact that they also contained oatmeal, imparting some heart health benefits along with the calories. I chilled the dough overnight, because I didn't get around to making them until the next day. I'm not sure if this affected them, but they were the best-looking cookies I've made in a long time, with pretty crackled tops. Enjoy.

You can find almond butter under the MaraNatha brand

Ingredients