Hi, and wow, thank you all for the ideas! You all provided inspiration, thank you so much for helping someone new here!
I think we're getting close, after trying a few variations. Long story short, the almond butter cookie didn't work for me, they were soft, no texture. Also did not like adding almond extract, tasted more like marzipan than almond to me.
While waiting for the almond butter cookie to cool, I remembered that my folks make various nut-based cookies during christmas. The base recipe is similar to a pie crust, and instead of using the nut butter to make a cookie, you simply use ground nuts. Made a small test batch, it worked well, gave me a "ritz cracker" like bite. They did poof up and grow, even without baking soda/powder.
I have a few more tests I want to run, and then will follow up. Thanks again 
