I'm going to say honestly that I have something of a love-hate relationship with these flourless cookies.
Despite a few trials with certain flourless cakes and cookies, I still find that I generally don't love them (of course, there are always plenty of exceptions...such as flourless chocolate cake - the kind leavened with eggs - and macaroon cookies, which I do love). Fortunately, I have no need to avoid gluten so I don't purposely seek out gluten-free baked goods. These flourless double chocolate almond butter cookies intrigued me because they looked wonderful and I was happy to have the chance to use almond butter in baking. In the last couple of years, I've come to enjoy almond butter almost as much as peanut butter.
Somehow, I think I was expecting conventional, sturdy, cookies to come out of the oven but these are truly the flourless kind - super moist. Just beneath the thin, dry crust that develops on top of these cookies, the center is ultimately fudgy and chewy. And therein lies the love part of the equation. The moist, chewiness - almost brownie-like texture - is something I adore and find addicting. As such, these cookies remind me of energy bars/balls made with dates that I am still trying to figure out whether I like or not.
All in, I'm a fan of the chocolaty, salty, rich flavor and the chewy texture of these chocolate almond butter cookies yet I miss the sturdiness of the traditional cookie (clearly, I need to approach it with proper expectations). They may not be my regular cookie of choice but they were certainly a nice change once in a while. Since they are so moist, I find it best to store the cookies in a single layer, in the refrigerator. We actually found we preferred them cold. The fudge factor increases and the cookies were easier to handle/hold. Serving these cookies with a scoop of vanilla ice cream would not be a bad idea.
