With my last batch of flourless peanut butter cookies, I got an email asking if almond butter could be used instead of peanut butter.
What a great question!
I didn't know, but was pretty sure one could easily swap the two.
So after just one experimental batch using almond butter they came out great--more like perfect!
I know a lot of you look for cookies that are gluten free and taste good.
I realize some gluten free cookies you see in the store aren't that great, sometimes you have to travel to a gluten free bakery for really good GF cookies.
But these almond butter-oatmeal cookies are really good.
These are chewy, not quite crunchy.
So if you like gooey cookies, these would be your match because you can slightly under-bake them for a soft center.
One note, since I obsess over what could have been ingredient-wise (with almost every recipe I make), if you do make these, I'm curious to see how they would taste without the cinnamon added.
Should you do this, please let me know.
Just wondering if taking the cinnamon out would make them more almond buttery tasting?
These are the perfect morning or breakfast cookie. They go so well with hot coffee.
And there isn't a lot of junk in there (just sugar) so it's almost healthy, filled with healthy proteins (almond butter and eggs).
almond butter-oatmeal cookies
print recipe
1 jar (16 ounces) honey almond butter (please see cook notes below)
½ cup dark brown sugar, NOT packed, but loose
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
1 ts pure vanilla extract
3 dashes of cinnamon
1 ½ TB molasses
¾ ts baking soda
¾ ts sea salt
1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
cook notes:
I used one whole jar (16 ounces) of honey almond butter. If you use maple flavored, you might want to cut down the sugar amount by 1-2 TB. I know the maple flavored almond butters are sweeter. If you use an almond butter that has no sugar in it, you might want to add in more sugar; make sure to taste-test before baking.
I would definitely add some raisins the next time I make these.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the almond butter, dark brown sugar, the eggs and egg yolk well. Then add in the vanilla extract, dashes of cinnamon, molasses and mix again.
Sprinkle on the baking soda, salt and rolled oats.
Mix well.
Cover bowl and place in fridge for 20 minutes to firm up.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out dough onto parchment lined baking sheets about an inch apart. You can try using your hands to roll dough balls, but dough is very sticky and wet.
DO NOT press down on the dough balls, do not flatten; leave as balls.
The cookies spread a bit during baking.
Bake cookies for 10- 14 minutes. For gooey cookies 10-11 minute mark.
It’s hard to know when the cookies are done, they stay soft and puffy while baking (firm up after cooling )
I looked for almost-crisp, light golden brown edges.
After you remove from oven, let them sit on the cookie sheet for at least 15-20 minutes or longer if you can.
If you try and take them off the sheet right out of the oven they will break apart; very delicate after baking.
They don’t keep too fresh that long, maybe 3 days at best?
Made about 21-23 cookies
4/6/14
almond butter-oatmeal cookies (GF)
3/23/14
double chocolate cookie bars
Cookie bars obviously one of my baking obsessions.
I've made countless varieties and don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
I haven't made a chocolate version--say what?
I know!
So I took the version that I use all the time, Jacques Torres version and tweaked it a bit to
make it a chocolate--a double chocolate version.
It came out perfect.
And the same rule of thumb applies to this as it does the original version: the longer the dough sits in the fridge to "marinate" the better the flavor. The process is almost like a souring process, but in a good way; think of if you were to add a hint of buttermilk to a chocolate chip cookie recipe--a nice gentle, sour/twangy flavor in the background. So good.
And I'm willing to bet if you find a higher cacao chocolate powder it would be even better.
I used a run of the mill chocolate powder: Ghiradelli, but would love to try it with something better/higher cacao.
Yes, this does look like a brownie, kind of tastes like it too, but very light and far more crisp than a brownie.
For me, this raw version is perfectly fine.
After baking, it truly needs a couple hours to firm up/set up.
(loosely based on jacques torres infamous cc cookie recipe)
3/17/14
cinnamon-oatmeal cookies
I swear each time I get on one of those "5-minute let's bake something really healthy kicks" it always turns out to be a butter-laden cookie with sugar and add in's, with only one healthy ingredient involved.
I try, I do, to bake more healthy, crunchy-granola things, but I get distracted when I open the
cupboard to see what items I am craving need to use up.
My brain wanders off thinking 'hey I think I can make a healthy cookie with cinnamon chips!'.
Maybe this is called "baker's attention deficit disorder'?
So here is my "what should be a healthy cookie" aka cinnamon-oatmeal cookies, which btw have oatmeal in there, so we're kind of covered.
Cinnamon and oatmeal in a cookie, you really can't go wrong with that flavor combo.
These are crispy, buttery cookies with a hint of cinnamon.
They would be perfect for ice cream sandwiches filled with a cinnamon ice cream.
cinnamon-oatmeal cookies
recipe from vanillasugarblog.com
based on my salty pumpkin-oatmeal cookie recipe
print recipe
2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, room temp (20 TB)
1 cup light brown sugar, NOT packed
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup bread flour
1 ½ cups cake flour
1 ts baking powder
1 ts baking soda
1 ts sea salt
3 dashes of cinnamon
1 ½ cups of rolled oats (not quick cooking!)
1/2 cup of cinnamon chips (they are strong so I didn't use a lot)
cook notes:
I used a medium ice cream scoop for the dough balls, you can use a smaller one,
just watch the baking times as they might bake up faster if you make them smaller.
Once the dough is mixed, it really needs to chill and set up.
Normally I do not like the taste of cinnamon chips on their own,
but mixed into a cookie dough they taste really good.
As always I like to remind everyone that I don’t have a mixer, so everything I mix is by hand;
if you have one lucky you!
In a medium bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients including the oats.
In a larger bowl, cream the butter and both sugars; add in the eggs, and mix.
Add dry ingredients to the wet and mix till just combined--don't overmix.
Next, by hand, add in the cinnamon chips.
Cover dough well with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least three hours or overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Line up two baking sheets with parchment paper or whatever method you use for baking cookies.
Using a medium ice cream scoop, scoop out and place on cookie sheet about an two inches apart.
Bake for about 13-15 minutes.
Rotate pans halfway through baking.
You'll know they are done when the bottoms are almost crisp/set up and the tops have a gentle crisp to them. It's really easy to overbake them, so definitely check at the 13-minute mark.
Makes about 25-30 cookies
3/10/14
2-ingredient cookie
The 2-ingredient cookie.
Have you heard of it?
Have you tried it?
I did.
And my results?
It needs more ingredients.
Who doesn't love a fast and easy cookie recipe?
Even I loved the list of ingredients that read: ripe bananas and rolled oats*.
(*And hey, since I get asked this all the time: rolled oats are the same as old fashioned oats).
So smitten with the list in fact that I didn't listen to my gut when it said "this will suck...there is
no sugar in there...".
Yeah it wasn't good--at all. Tasted like mashed, wet cardboard.
So the first batch went to the round file, and the second batch got an uplift by adding in a little peanut butter, pecans and chocolate. Much better.
Literally you can add in anything--AND I suggest you do.
Chocolate helps--a lot. And my addition of peanut butter helped too.
Where did this recipe come from?
I think it started on Oprah or O Magazine a couple years ago?
I saw it for the first time here at Foodlets.com
2-ingredient cookies
print recipe
cookie base:
2 very ripe bananas
1 cup old-fashioned oats
add in's:
dried cranberries, walnuts, pecans, peanut butter, raisins, etc..
(about 1/4 cup of each)
cook notes:
if you are adding in peanut butter, add in an additional 1 TB of oats for every 1/4 cup
of peanut butter. The cookies do not spread at all while baking, they actually keep the exact same
shape they had in dough form, so you might want to push the cookies down into a uniform circle.
I added in a pinch of salt to the dough if I added chocolate chips.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mash the bananas well. Add in the oats and stir.
Then add in your add in's, mix again.
I covered the bowl and place in fridge to firm up.
Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out balls onto parchment lined baking sheet, about an inch apart. Cookies don't spread at all, so you need to gently push the dough balls down a bit to get them round. Bake for about 11-15 minutes. Hard to know when they are done, but look for set dough.
3/3/14
peanut butter-oatmeal cookies (flourless, GF, 1-bowl easy)
I have to say, most gluten free, flourless peanut butter cookies are so much better tasting then those with flour. Something about that creamy, rich, dense texture that I just love.
If you choose a really good peanut butter (I love baking with the whole foods organic chunky), not an oily one you can create a really good satisfying peanut butter cookie.
With that said, I've wanted to create a semi breakfast version slash healthier peanut butter cookie that I would feel less guilty about.
So I added in a bit of rolled oats, took out some sugar and add topped it all off with some sea salt.
These cookies can be gluten free if your rolled oats are processed in a facility that is gluten free--yes there are gluten free oats out there--I found mine at Whole Foods.
Hands down, this is the best flourless cookie I've made.
They are so rich, so dense, and flavorful. Not 100% healthy because of the sugar, but you can experiment around and use a sugar substitute if you wish.
The cookies are super delicate after baking.
Let them chill on the cookie sheet before removing.
They harden up a bit with a nice wonderful crisp outside.
So good!
Use a chunky peanut for a hint of texture.
See the bottom and tops did crisp up a bit.
I promise you these will be your favorite peanut butter cookie AND it's all one bowl easy.
cook notes:
I swear by the organic chunky whole foods brand peanut butter. It's just the right amount of
creaminess and thickness for making all kinds of cookies & muffins.
Please make sure to chill the dough or the cookies will spread a bit. If you can't chill the dough, then
leave cookie dough balls in ball form--don't press/flatten.
2/24/14
chocolate chip cookie pie with graham
The chocolate chip cookie isn't what it used to be.
Now a days it's stuffed, it's fried, it's raw, it veganized, it's gluten free, it's frozen, it's gone molecular, broken down scientifically into chemistry, been made into reverse where the cookie is the chips and the chips are the dough (brilliant!), and it's even been made into air.
So I'm making sure to do my part by keeping the 'stuffing' possibilities strong and alive!
I've always wanted to add in graham crackers, but this time I added in salty graham crackers.
Since the the graham is so sweet, a touch of salt mixed in with it mixes really nicely with the cookie dough.
I also added in a layer of nutella too, you don't have to; I was just craving Nutella, so....
Do you ever wonder what the next trend for the chocolate chip cookie will be?
I do, but don't have an answer.....just yet.
I added in a layer of Nutella, you don't have to; I was just craving Nutella at the time, so in the bowl it goes....
A HUGE congrats to the winner of the CakeLove cookbook giveaway: #29 Lori Stilger.
I'll be emailing you soon!
chocolate chip cookie pie with graham
cookie base recipe from Jacques Torres
print recipe
2 cups minus 2 TB (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 ts baking soda
1 1/2 ts baking powder
1 1/2 ts coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 TB (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 ts natural vanilla extract
4-6 ounces of bittersweet chocolate chips* (see cook notes)
4-6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips* (see cook notes)
filling:
1/4 – ½ cup crushed graham crackers
¼ to ¾ cup Nutella (all depending on how much you want or don’t want)
Sea salt for sprinkling top of graham crumbs (don’t skip this part!)
cook notes:
The chocolate chip cookie recipe is from Jacques Torres; I use this repeatedly because it truly is the very best chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had.
In Jacques recipe he does cookies, you can do cookies if you want, I just was short on time and wanted to do bars as they would hold the Nutella much better.
*Also, in Jacques original recipe, he uses 1 ¼ pounds of high quality bittersweet chocolate. I did not in this recipe, as I wanted the Nutella flavor to shine through. I just used a small amount of chocolate chips, using a blend of bittersweet and semi sweet. I do not recommend using milk chocolate chips in this recipe—it would be overkill sweetness.
The whole ‘most important step’ of Jacques Torres famous cc cookie recipe is to let the cookie dough sit and marinate for at least a day or more (48 hours). Please don’t skip this step. I have gone as far as 96 hours and the dough was perfect.
Lastly, you all know by now I don't have a mixer so I did this recipe by hand. The dough is very tough and hard to mix, so I used my hands--great workout! But if you have a mixer, please go ahead and use it. This time around I used a large cake pan (10-inch) instead of my 9x13 pan. It came out perfectly!
You don’t have to add in the Nutella; I just did as an after thought.
Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.
Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds.
Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them.
Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 10-inch cake pan (or 9 x 13 pan) with non-stick spray.
Divide dough into 2 piles: 2/3 and 1/3.
Take the 2/3 dough and line the bottom of the cake pan with it, making sure to get all the corners, making sure there aren’t any holes or gaps in the dough. Use a spoon to push down all the edges.
Spread a layer of nutella; do not spread it to the edges! (nutella is not necessary).
Then sprinkle on the crushed graham, and put a nice layer of sea salt on top (don’t skip the sea salt—this really brings out the flavor of the graham).
Take the 1/3 remaining dough and in clumps, place on the top.
Don’t push the crumble down into the dough, just leave it on the top—it’s ok to have spaces in the crumble—gaps are good on the top, it will let the nutella show through and the crumbles will bake up nice & crisp.
Bake until golden brown but still soft, roughly 25 – 35 minutes.
Look for golden brown edges, non-jiggly middle.
The middle will be a bit soft, but once it completely cools it won’t be as gooey; it sets up really nice.
You really have to let this cool at least an hour before slicing.
Slice with a sharp knife.
Makes about 12-15 slices, depending on how you cut them.
2/8/14
flourless peanut butter-cinnamon cookies for #ElleAPalooza
As many of you might know by now, the food blogging world lost a dear dear friend way too early.
Elle of ellesnewenglandkitchen.com
(See my past post about her passing).
To honor her, her love, her friendships, her mentoring, and most of all her memory, a group of friends who all knew Elle have formed an #ElleAPalooza.
(There is also an auction to help raise funds for her family. Elle leaves behind a wonderful husband, and four children. If you can, please help donate to the fund. You can only imagine, in this economy, how hard things are for her husband now--so please donate, give what you can--any amount is welcome).
If you're interested in joining the celebration of Elle and the #ElleAPalooza, please visit the Facebook page: Friends of Elle.
Bloggers that participate, pick a favorite recipe from Elle's blog, recreate as is or with a twist--all done with loving Elle in memory. Along with the recipe, bloggers reflect back on their memories with Elle, how they met her, what they loved about her, what they learned from her, etc...
I personally never met Elle, but we became fairly close online via facebook and our food blogs.
In fact, Elle was one of the first people to leave a comment on my blog back in 2008 when I first started blogging.
Funny as my first few posts had horrid food photos and the cheesiest words to accompany those photos. So cheesy I swear....I like to think I've gotten better as I've aged?
Darling Elle saw past the cheesy words and always loved the recipes.
She would always tell me how creative I was, and when in the world was my first cookbook coming out?
As the years passed, she, the football Patriot loving friend, soon became someone I loved to share my morning espresso with on Facebook while I was supposed to be writing and working.
Oh it was easy to giggle and pass the morning by with her; she had a great sense of humor.
And always, and I do mean always, was very supportive of any new venture I took or any other food bloggers she knew.
Someone asked me what one thing, one true memory of Elle that stood out ?
Oh that's so easy to answer: she was so SUPPORTIVE.
Supportive to even people she casually knew in the food blogging world; she would encourage, encourage, encourage!
I like to call her the cheerleader of the food blogging world--she was always coaching people on, always sharing cooking contest links to me, pushing me on to enter--even if she was entering to.
She was not selfish at all.
Such a kind, gentle soul...you are so missed my dear.
For the #ElleAPalooza, I choose Elle's flourless peanut cookies, which are made with toffee and chocolate, but since Elle knew me so well, she knows that pretty much everything I do I have to put my own spin on it.
Since I love cinnamon with my peanut butter in the mornings, I decided to add cinnamon chips.
Those cinnamons chips went so well with the rich peanut butter flavor of the cookies.
Oh and a little sea salt on top never hurts either.
This is quite possibly one of the better peanut butter cookie recipes I've come across--it's very rich, deep peanut butter flavor....almost like a really good slice of chocolate cake that leaves you so thirsty.
This is that, but in a cookie. Very satisfying, and no flour used.
Of course, one bowl easy too.
I think what also made these smell and taste so good was the new bottle of tahitian vanilla I bought as a splurge item. Just a little something-something added in the background of the cookie.
I know that the tahitian beans are one of the more fragrant ones, and I can attest to this as the smell these cookies made in the house while baking was strong--almost tropical. Okay tropical mixed with peanut butter, really nice smell.
Don't be tempted to flatten these--they won't be as puffy or tender when baked.
Just a little push down--barely.
If you try and take these off the sheet right after baking they will break apart.
Let them cool at least 20 minutes or longer.
Can't tell you how tasty these truly are...I'm certain Ms. Elle was with me when I created these.
You are missed Ms. Elle, you are missed...
flourless pb & cinnamon cookies
recipe idea from elle's new england kitchen
print recipe
2 cups peanut butter (not oily all natural kind)
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 ts pure vanilla extract
1 ts baking soda
1 ts sea salt
less than ½ cup cinnamon chips
a little extra sea salt for the tops of the cookies
In a large mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients except for the cinnamon chips.
Mix well, then fold in the cinnamon chips
Cover bowl well, and put in fridge for at least 15 minutes.
OR using a 2-inch cookie scoop out cookies onto parchment lined cookie sheets, barely pressing down on the dough balls, then set them into fridge to firm up before baking. (I did the latter).
Put a little sea salt on the tops of the cookies before baking, optional but wonderful.
The cookies won’t spread much during baking, but they do rise up a bit.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Bake cookies for 13-16 minutes.
It’s hard to know when the cookies are done as they stay soft and puffy while baking (they firm up a lot after baking)
I looked for almost-crisp, light golden brown edges.
After you remove from oven, let them sit on the hot cookie sheet for at least 15-20 minutes or longer if you can.
If you try and take them off the sheet right out of the oven they will break apart; very delicate after baking.
They don’t keep too fresh that long, maybe 3 days at best?
Makes about 21-25 cookies
12/15/13
peppermint creme meltaway bars
Peppermint.
For some reason I crave peppermint more so in the winter than any other season.
Do you?
Is there a vitamin or mineral in the mint that my body is lacking?
I don't know, is that true? Whatever veggie, spice, herb or meat you craving consistently is what you are lacking nutritionally?
Anywho.....How did these bars come about?
My yearning for a peppermint meltaway cookie really.
But I couldn't just do a boring slice and bake cookie; I added a few more steps
--ok a lot more steps, to fancy it up.
Aren't the colors so pretty and festive?
This recipe is fairly quick and easy. You can make the dough the night before, let it chill out in the
fridge.
Then assemble and bake the next day.
ONE key step to this recipe: the Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chunks.
Have you tried these? It was the first time I'd seen them. I wish I had found them earlier.
What a great and tasty on its own little baking chip: it comes complete with peppermint and white chocolate in one!
When researching these baking chips I had no idea they were owned by tootsie roll.
I found the chips at Walmart in the candy aisle--NOT the baking aisle.
If you can't find these chips?
Take some crushed candy canes and mix with white chocolate chips; equal portion of each.
These bars are decadent; taste like a shortbread bars but have the consistency and texture of a meltaway.
The middle filling is gentle on the mint.
I didn't want a heavy mint taste in these bars, so I didn't add any mint extract.
If you do a quick taste-test of the cookie dough and want a little bit of mint in there, then feel free to add some. Or add it to the cream cheese filling.
I made the top of the bars have a nice "crumble crunch" to it.
If you flatten the dough pieces as opposed to circle chunks, the flattened pieces will crisp up nicely.
I made just a little bit of minty icing over the top in order for the sprinkling of chips to stick and stay
on the bars.
And since baking hindsight is 20/20, I could have added a bit of red or even green food coloring
to the icing for a nice festive touch.
Only saved one for me; the prettiest one in fact. :-)
