Date Cookies (2-ingredient)

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Credit to @theconsciousplantkitchen on Instagram

Ingredients
▢2 cup Almond Flour - (note 1)
▢1 cup Medjool Dates - pitted, equivalent to 10 Medjool dates, packed in the cup to measure (note 2)
Optional flavor ideas
▢1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
▢1 teaspoon Cinnamon
▢2-3 tablespoon Maple Syrup- (note 3)
▢½ teaspoon Almond Extract
▢2 tablespoons Dark Chocolate Chips - (note 4)

Instructions
-Place the pitted dates in a glass bowl, pour boiling water on top, and set aside for 5 minutes to soften.
-Preheat the oven to 340 °F (170 °C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Slightly oil paper with cooking oil spray. Set aside.
-Drain the dates in a sieve over the sink and press the dates above a bowl to remove the excess liquid trapped in them. Set the juice aside as you might use some of the recipe later.
-Place the drained soaked dates in the bowl of a food processor along with almond flour and process on medium-high speed until it forms a crumbly mixture with tiny pieces of dates – no big ones. It takes about 1 minute.
-Stop the food processor. The batter is ready when you are able to form ball of dough as you squeeze it with your hands. It should stick together nicely. --If too dry, simply process again adding a little bit of the date 'juice' you kept earlier until the batter is easy to squeeze. If too wet, add a little more almond flour and process again.
-Roll 10 dough balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet.
-Lightly wet or oil hands to press down each dough ball into a cookie shape. They won't expand in the oven. The shape you give now is the shape you get at the end.
-Bake the date cookies on the center rack of the oven for 8-12 minutes at 340 °F (170 °C) until golden brown on the side
-Let the cookies cool down on the baking sheet for 10 minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack.

Notes
-Note 1: I recommend ultra-fine blanched almond flour for best texture. Almond meal works as well but the cookie batter tends to be dryer and requires more liquid – water from the soaked dates – to come together. The recipe works with hazelnut flour. The recipe doesn’t work with all-purpose flour or oat flour. Oat flour is highly liquid absorbent and if you try it, you will need way less oat flour and the cookies won’t be as moist.
-Note 2: I don’t recommend other type of dates, Medjool dates are soft and add a delicious moisture to the cookies.
-Note 3: You will need a little more almond flour to make the cookie dough less wet as maple syrup makes the dough sticky.
-Note 4: Feel free to press in a few chocolate chips on top of the cookies before baking for extra sweetness.
Flavors Ideas: you can add 1 teaspoon of almond extract or vanilla extract to the batter. Other flavors I love are 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.