Blueberry White Chocolate Almond Oatmeal Cookies

It’s a little bit strange getting back to being in the kitchen after many days away and traveling.

As most of you know, I’ve been in San Diego for the past week. Ironically enough, my father had booked tickets to a concert in Spokane the day I returned so it feels like even longer since I’ve been back to my typical daily routine. I’m not going to lie, it’s been really nice to get a change of scenery. On the other hand, I do like a little routine to help me stay more productive, so a mixture of the two is perfect.

Another nice thing about traveling this time of year is escaping the cold weather. I remember telling you guys recently before leaving that it had been unusually warm here. Well, as I suspected the Winter isn’t quite done yet and my sister and I got home to some bitter temperatures. In fact, last night’s low broke records. It was about -7 degrees Fahrenheit. Let’s just say the beach sounds really good about now.

While I was traveling I talked to so many people from all over the world. I guess California attracts all kinds. Tell me if I’m wrong, but I’d say for the most part the world is starting to rely more and more on technology and the internet. I mean, just simply navigating in the city, my sister and I were using our phone’s GPS and using them for Uber, and staying connected to family. Not to mention sharing bits of the trip with you guys.

That’s why it really surprised me that so many of the people I talked to asked me what a blogger was when I told them that’s what I do. I don’t know, I just thought it was more common these days. When I was living in South America it was more understandable for people I met to be unfamiliar with blogging, but I’d have thought in San Diego it wouldn’t be such a mystery. Granted, most of these people were a little bit before my generation, but still. Hmm, guess we’ll have to give it another decade or so, right?

My sister’s birthday is this week and she and my brother-in-law just got home from a trip of their own to Seattle. On their trip they ate a Cheesecake Factory and ordered the Godiva cheesecake. She loved it so much that I’m going to try a little copycat version, so that just might have to be a recipe appearing on the blog soon.

For today though, I’m sharing these oatmeal cookies that I made before I left for California actually. The past few weeks, in case you haven’t noticed from this salad and this berry filled trifle, I’ve been really getting in the mood for an early spring and I think my recipes have been reflecting that.

So something we love to do up here, during the warmer weather days mid to late Summer, is pick the mountain huckleberries that you can find growing wild up in Sandpoint where my aunt and uncle live. I’d really hoped to go with them to pick while I was staying with them through the summer. Of course, my 4-wheeler accident changed those plans a lot so I wasn’t able to pick any this past season to freeze for later. I mean, you can buy them from the local markets but they cost an arm and a leg (and you’d understand why once you’ve spent a whole afternoon for a single bucket full.)

So my older sister created a family favorite when she decided to make huckleberry white chocolate cookies one year, and now they are a seasonal must.

Now that we’re getting closer to berry season again I wanted to make something similar to her recipe but without having any huckleberries i thought I’d try using some blueberries instead. Just until I get huckleberries + they can be interchangeable in this recipe) Almonds have been on my radar a lot recently too so they made their way into these cookies, and the white chocolate is clearly non-negotiable. Ah yes, and I decided that some oats to make them feel a little more wholesome for snacking.

‎The final cookies were pretty perfect if I do say so myself. You get the tart pockets of baked blueberries, the creamy sweet bites of white chocolate, and the nutty crunch from the almonds with the oatmeal cookie base to balance it all out. Yep, perfection.?

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Blueberry White Chocolate Almond Oatmeal Cookies

Ever wondered what would happen if a granola bar hooked up with a blueberry muffin? These cookies will answer your question.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 24 cookies

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup unsweetened natural almond butter you can replace with any nut butter
• 1/4 pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup almond milk or any non-dairy milk
• 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup blanched almond flour
• 1 cup gluten free oat flour
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats gf if needed
• 1 cup frozen blueberries smaller is better
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup dairy free white chocolate chips or chopped chocolate optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C). Mix almond milk, nut butter, coconut sugar, and maple syrup until combined. Add vanilla and almond extract, salt, and baking powder. Mix in almond and oat flour then oats. Fold in the slivered almonds, white chocolate chips, and frozen blueberries.
2. Use a cookie scoop or your hands to roll dough into 2 tablespoon sized balls (because the blueberries are frozen the dough might get a bit hard to work with and you might need to use your hands to form and shape the dough around all the mix ins.) place evenly apart on parchment lined baking sheet, and flatten with palm because these cookies don't spread. (you should get about 24 cookies)
3. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until edges are golden. Remove and cool completely.

Recipe Notes

These cookies are best eaten within 24 hours of baking as the fruit makes them soft after a little while. If you do plan to save and eat them after a day or two you can bake them again for 3-5 minutes to bring them back.