08 Feb Gluten-free Peanut Butter Cookies
A cookie is a cookie. You can make it “healthier”, that’s for sure; but let’s be real: it’s still a treat, and that’s okay! I do my best to strike a balance between having a healthy diet and enjoying one of life’s true pleasures – yummy food (not too suggest they are mutually exclusive). Our general household principles are to adhere to a plant-based diet and keep processed foods to a minimum. I cannot call myself vegan because cheese…my downfall! We like to reference The Blue Zones, evidence-based population studies and that of food writer Michael Pollan. Both of those references support our approach, and in particular, Michael Pollan has been known to say that if you’re going to eat a treat, it’s generally always better if it’s homemade as you have greater control of the ingredients. So, with this in mind, I’d like to share with you a cookie recipe I tinkered with over the weekend. 🙂
I came upon a cookie recipe that had just 3 ingredients: peanut butter, brown sugar and one egg. Intrigued, I tried the recipe and swapped out the egg for a “flax egg”. While tasty and certainly easy, both Robb and I found the cookies to be too sweet…I think that’s a first for me!
So, I thought I would cut back on the sugar, but then that would leave the cookie dough too sticky. To compensate for that, I added oatmeal. I also found the original cookie recipe to be lacking salt. A touch of salt (in my opinion) balances out the sweet nicely. I also really like adding vanilla to cookie recipes. The end result was quite yummy and helped fuel a nice winter snowshoe out in the forest with the pups!
Gluten-free Peanut Butter Cookies
1 flax “egg” = 1 tbsp ground flax + 2 1/2 tbsp water – let sit for 10 or more minutes to thicken
3/4 cup natural, unsalted peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Peanuts for garnish
Prepare flax “egg” and set aside to thicken (allow at least 10 minutes). In a medium sized bowl, combine brown sugar and salt. Add oatmeal and blend well. Then add peanut butter, vanilla and flax “egg”. Combine well. Spoon onto parchment-lined baking sheet (makes 10 – 12 cookies). Top each cookie with a cute peanut. Bake 8 – 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool and enjoy!