Crunchy Chocolate Almond Cranberry Batons

These cookies are just amazing! They are crisp, crunchy, not too sweet because of the dark chocolate, and just are a great accompaniment to a cup of coffee! Although the dough is difficult to work with, and slightly messy, the taste makes it all worthwhile. According to an on line calculator for nutrition, each cookie has 6 grams of sugar and 16 grams of carbohydrate. This is not to be taken as scientific but I guess the numbers are close enough. Before baking, the rolled "Sausages" or "Cigars" look pretty unappetizing (yes, they look like exactly what you are thinking, but after baking, the take on a Biscotti like appearance).

Ingredients

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

3/4 cup rolled oats

¾ cup Scottish oatmeal

1/3 cup sesame seeds

1/3 cup white sugar

4 tablespoons water

¼ cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup almond butter

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

1/2 cup almonds, chopped

1/2 cup unsweetened dark chocolate chunks (1/2 will be melted in the sugar syrup, and ½ chopped and mixed with the cranberries)

Directions

1.      Mix the brown sugar, butter, and water in a small saucepan. Boil to a thin syrup stage (approximately 212 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer). Put ½ of the chocolate chunks in the syrup, allow to melt, mixing well. Allow to cool to room temperature

2.      In a small bowl, whisk together flour, oatmeal, sesame seeds, oats, salt, baking soda, and allspice. In a large bowl, beat white sugar, cooled sugar syrup/chocolate mixture, and almond butter until well combined. Beat in eggs, and vanilla. Add the cranberries, and chopped chocolate, almonds, stirring to combine. Fold in the dry ingredients all at once. The dough will be very stiff, and difficult to work with.

3.      Preheat oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

4.      Use your hands (lightly oiled or floured to make handling the dough easier) to roll balls of the dough into cigar or sausage shaped “batons”4”long by ½-3/4” wide (see photo, and yes, they look like "turds")

. Bake 15-20 minutes on lined baking sheet, until lightly browned and firm to the touch. Cool for 20 minutes, the cookies will harden as they cool. 

5.      Lower oven temperature to 275 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven, turn cookies over and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.