5 Spice Holiday Cookies

These have been on repeat the past few weeks because they keep getting eaten up too fast in my house! 

They have all the warm gingerbread spice flavors of the holidays in a chewy cookie that just melts in your mouth. Some crunchier cashew pieces leave a slight crunch to perfectly complement the chew. 

Bake them just 3 minutes longer, and they are more reminiscent of a crunchier ginger snap cookie. Try them both ways and see which you like better! 

Makes 12 cookies (but I would double the recipe, they are that good!) 

Ingredients

1.5 cup cashews 

1 cup smooth almond butter

1.5 cups pitted dates (about 15 dates) 

1 egg

½ cup pure honey

2 tsp organic vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ginger

1.5 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp cloves

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp cardamom

Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare a baking tray with parchment paper. 

Place the cashews in a food processor and pulse until they are roughly chopped. 

Remove half the cashews and set them aside in a bowl. With the food processor running, slowly add the pitted dates to the cashew mix. (The cashews help the dates process easier without getting stuck in the blades). 

Add the remaining ingredients and process until fully mixed. Add in the chunkier cashews that were set aside and fold them in, leaving them in bigger pieces. 

Spoon about 1 tablespoon of batter onto the parchment, leaving an inch between cookies. The batter will be sticky, and using two spoons to help shape cookies will be easier than using your fingers. 

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes for a chewier cookie. If you prefer a crunchier cookie, bake an additional 3 minutes. 

Enjoy!