The Best Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe. Ever.

I am surprised I even had any batter left to make these cookies...I couldn't stop eating it raw. Maple syrup + peanut butter? Thanks Heidi for my new favorite cookie recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2  teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/2 cup peanut or almond butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. in a separate larger bowl combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, olive oil, and vanilla. Stir until combined. Pour the flour mixture over the peanut butter mixture and stir until barely combined. Let sit for five minutes, give one more quick stir, just a stroke or two. Now drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets.

Press down on each one gently with the back of a fork. Bake for 10 minutes (don't over bake or they will be dry). Let cool five minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

Makes a dozen cookies.

Soft Ginger Cookies

My mother is visitng this weekend which gives me a fabulous excuse to bake. I have been looking forward to trying Kim Barnouin's recipe for Soft Ginger Cookies in my beloved "Skinny Bitch Ultimate Everyday Cookbook". Since my mother is an avid fan of anything containing ginger it seemed like a good time to give them a shot. Unfortunately I did not read the recipe all the way through last night before I got busy baking so I did not see that the dough had to chill for an hour. I might have budgeted my time last night a little differently had I seen that...but otherwise they were very simple and turned out quite delicious. The only tweak I made was I added some maple sugar to the top of the cookies before baking to add some extra sweetness. Best part? Only 90 calories a cookie!

Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup evaporated cane sugar
½ cup Earth Balance, at room temperature
½ cup applesauce
2 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger, or 1 tablespoon small pieces crystallized ginger (I used fresh ginger and actually added about 1.5 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.
In a medium bowl, sift the flour. Add the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
In a separate large bowl, beat the sugar and the Earth Balance with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the applesauce, molasses, ground and fresh ginger, and the vanilla. Beat for 1 minute. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and slowly stir together, being careful to avoid overmixing. Place in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour and then roll in the dough into small balls and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Lightly press on the dough with your fingers to flatten a little, but make sure they aren’t too thin. Bake about 8 minutes. Let the cookies cool on baking sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Carrot Oatmeal Cookies

The last attempt I made at vegan cookies was so horrible I could not even blog about it. I finally gathered up the courage to try again after surfing through Heidi Swanson’s cookie recipes on her oh so amazing blog, http://www.101cookbooks.com/  She has two vegan cookies recipes posted that look amazing to me. This week I tried out her oatmeal carrot cookies and they are absolutely delicious. I substituted regular flour & olive oil and they still taste great. Next chance I have, I’m going to give her peanut butter ones a go!



Carrot Oatmeal Cookies:

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup real maple syrup, room temperature
1/2 cup unrefined (fragrant) coconut oil, warmed until just melted
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and oats. Add the nuts and carrots. In a separate smaller bowl use a whisk to combine the maple syrup, coconut oil, and ginger. Add this to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Drop onto prepared baking sheets, one level tablespoonful at a time, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Bake in the top 1/3 of the oven for 10 - 12 minutes or until the cookies are golden on top and bottom.