Peanut Butter Cookies

We always have people at our events or retreats that are Gluten free and often Dairy free too. We like to make sure that everyone gets good treats. For that very reason I have spent countless days searching for and trying out GF and DF recipes.  I have found some good ones (will share more soon) and some pretty terrible ones (apologies to anyone that tried those!). These peanut butter cookies though…well, what can I say. I’m a big fan of the peanut butter Cliff bars (energy bars for outdoor adventures) but as Phill commented when he tried one of these cookies – “these bad boys are like Cliff bars on steroids!”

So here’s how you make them.

Ingredients (makes 12 – 16 cookies depending on size)

1 Jar of crunchy peanut butter (palm oil free please!)

1 cup of Soft brown sugar

1 level teaspoon Gluten free Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

1 level cup of Gluten Free Oats (or plain old oats if you aren’t GF)

1 cup (ish) of coconut flakes

2 medium eggs

Method

Preheat the oven to 170 C

Line a large baking tray with baking parchment

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl (yes its that technical). The mixture will be slightly sticky. If it feels too sticky just add a few more oats. Shape the mixture into cookie shapes. I used maybe 1.5 tablespoons per cookie. Flatten them down so they are around a cm thick. Place on baking tray and into the oven for around 15 minutes – they will look golden brown when cooked. Leave to cool if you can before eating them with a nice cup of tea! Or take them out on the trails with you to keep your energy levels tip top!

Variations

You could substitute the brown sugar with equal amounts of coconut sugar

To make them vegan you could use linseed eggs instead – one dessertspoon of ground linseed (flaxseed, its the same thing) mixed with a tablespoon of water makes one egg.

You could add chocolate chips…chopped dates…..leave out the coconut….you get the idea. I am going to continue to experiment but the base recipe is pretty darn good!