Yumna Jawad’s Cottage Cheese Cookies

Almond flour: Almond is my preference, but you can use all purpose flour, coconut flour, or oat flour. I haven’t tested these flours so you’ll have to test and adjust as needed.
Granulated sugar: If you don’t have granulated sugar, light or dark brown sugar is a good substitute.
Baking soda, baking powder: If you’re out of baking soda, you can just use more baking powder.
Salt: Sea salt, pink salt, or any other salt type is a great substitute.
Cottage cheese: Use full fat cottage cheese, but low fat can also be substituted with a slight alteration to the final texture.
Egg: Can be substituted with something like banana, applesauce, or even tofu.
Vanilla extract: A cheaper alternative to vanilla bean, but vanilla bean or an extract like almond could also be used.
Olive oil: Olive oil is my preference but any type of oil will work like avocado oil or even vegetable oil.
Dark chocolate chips: If you don’t have dark chocolate, semisweet, milk chocolate, or any other candy chips will also work.

Popular Additions
Pecans, pistachios, almonds: Can be added for texture and flavor, to pair with the nuttiness of the almond flour.
Cinnamon: Another great healthy spice used in baking it adds another level of spice and flavor to your cookie.
Nutmeg: Much like cinnamon, this spice plays well in cookies and can add an extra level of depth and spice.
Caramel and Sea salt: Whether you choose to mix these with your ingredients or as toppings, this combination adds a classic salty and sweet flavor that everyone can enjoy.
Peanut butter: This could add an additional level of flavor, binding of your ingredients, and protein. You can opt for crunchy or creamy depending on your texture preference and this is yet another way to up your protein and healthy fat content in these cookies.

Step 1: To a small blender, add cottage cheese, egg, vanilla and oil. Process until smooth.
Step 2: Pour the cottage cheese mixture into the dry ingredients and fold together until just combined.
Step 3: Fold in chocolate chips. The dough will look like muffin batter but will get thicker as it sets.
Step 4: Cover and refrigerate.
Step 5: Scoop the cookie dough and place it on one of the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the edges are lightly golden.
Step 6: Bake until the edges are lightly golden.

Tips:
Opt for a light baking sheet versus a dark one: A darker sheet pan cooked faster than a lighter one, by about 3-4 minutes. Keep that in mind to adjust your cooking time if needed or watch until the edges of the cookies start to brown.
Adjust the almond flour if needed: I tested this recipe with Bob’s Red Mill blanched super fine almond flour and the quantity worked out perfectly. However, the texture and absorbency of almond flour is not all the same, so if you use a different brand, start with 1 ½ cups of almond flour and check that the consistency feels like muffin batter. It will continue to thicken in the fridge to feel more like a cookie dough batter.
Refrigerate the dough: Allowing the cookie dough to chill will give the almond flour time to absorb more moisture and hold together better once baked.
Blend fatty ingredients: Blending these ingredients together can help emulsify the fats and make them more evenly dispersed for baking.
Use parchment paper or silicone baking pads: To avoid using any sprays or butters that could make the bottoms of your cookies soggy or extra crispy, opt for parchment paper or silicone baking pads. These will help to prevent sticking, promote easy removal and cleaning, and prevent any need for sprays or additional butter or fat content.