Vanilla-Almond Peace Cookies

Last Saturday my roommates (the lovely ladies who contribute to this blog, although they’ll probably shoot me for calling them “ladies”) and I went to the Power to the Peaceful music festival here in San Francisco. Since it was about peace and also free, it was a great opportunity to watch the interaction between hippies, hipsters, and the many other creatively dressed tribes that populate our fair city. I thought it was a good excuse to bake cookies and promote our blog. I mean, wait, what? We don’t promote our blog. That’s like totally icky, and like, needy and stuff. We’re just some totally authentic people trying to get by, or whatever. Anyway…

Have you ever handed out free cookies at a music festival in Golden Gate Park? On one hand, everybody’s hungry, but on the other, I could see alarmed parents tugging their children out of my path as I wove my way through the crowd, Tupperware in hand. Although both the hopeful and the suspicious expected at least one ingredient not included in the recipe below, these moist and chewy cookies managed to win everyone over. The secret is pudding, people. Pudding! (ganja optional: add during step 1)
Also, I have to say: Seventy thousand people, doing tree pose and Namaste in unison. I don’t know what it means, just gotta say.



Ingredients:

2 sticks salted butter
1 cup sugar
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding powder
1 vanilla bean
2 eggs
2 cups white flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup raw almonds, chopped





Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place one stick of butter, the pudding powder, and the sugar into a large mixing bowl. Melt the other stick of butter in a saucepan over low heat.

Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise, cutting off both ends, and scrape seeds into the melting butter. If you don’t have any vanilla beans you could throw in some vanilla extract, I guess. Once fully melted, pour the butter and vanilla over the sugar, pudding mix, and unmelted butter. Stir vigorously until the other stick of butter is dissolved. The mixture should be very thick and creamy.

Add the eggs to the mixture and beat well until combined. Add the flour, baking powder, and chopped almonds, mix well. Form the dough into golf-ball-sized spheres and flatten to ½ inch thick before placing on the baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges are just starting to brown.

Makes approximately 30 cookies. Super easy, super quick, super delicious. Could help you make friends, possibly even with people who aren’t currently feeling the Universal Love Connection.