Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies
Quinoa Flakes + Cookies = Perfect Match.
You know how I feel about cookies (I've confessed my love before in my Ode to Cookies love fest, Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies).
Because a good cookie is no small thing.
Because a good cookie is no small thing.
Especially if you must live gluten-free. Double that if you must live dairy-free. And triple that if you live egg-free.
Holy Mother of Muffins, it ain't easy.
Holy Mother of Muffins, it ain't easy.
The gluten-free wheat-free vegan lifestyle is a hefty, sometimes tortuous challenge. But the ugly truth is more and more of us are discovering we are not only blessed with celiac disease (yes, I use the word blessed ironically; you do remember irony, don't you, it got you through grade school) but we have the incredible fortune (more irony) to develop additional food sensitivities due to the insidious damage celiac disease wreaks on our innocent little villi, those dutiful nutrient grabbers who not only keep us well fed through proper absorption, they appear to be the first line of defense against the dreaded leaky gut syndrome that allows food proteins to invade intimate territory and cause serious mayhem with our immune system.
To read more about celiac disease and its new found dangers, check out this article by Dr. Mark Hyman on Huffington Post: Gluten: What You Don't Know Might Kill You. Yes, I know, serious bummer of a title, but Babycakes, do read it, because celiac disease is dead serious stuff. And it is vastly under diagnosed.
Millions are suffering various nagging (and often awkward) symptoms. Needlessly.
That, Dearheart, is scary.
Millions are suffering various nagging (and often awkward) symptoms. Needlessly.
That, Dearheart, is scary.
Good thing we have cookies.
Karina's Gluten-Free Wheat-Free Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies Recipe
Recipe posted January 2010.Packed with vegan protein these delicious peanutty cookies stand up to dunking (I dunked in ice cold organic soy milk). There are hands down the best peanut butter cookie I've tasted. Slightly chewy, dense and yet, tender. And best of all they do not crumble. If you (or someone special) is sensitive to peanut butter, you're still in luck. Use your favorite seed butter in place of the peanut butter (adjust if necessary, for a liquidy butter).
Ingredients:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together:
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup Ancient Harvest Quinoa Flakes
1/4 cup organic millet flour, or buckwheat flour
1 tablespoon tapioca starch
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon Authentic Foods Vanilla Powder (or use 2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla extract)
Add in:
1 cup organic golden brown sugar
1/4 cup honey or organic raw agave (to keep it strictly vegan)
1 cup organic chunky peanut butter
1 tablespoon Ener-G Foods Egg Replacer whisked with 1/4 cup warm water till frothy
2-4 tablespoons rice milk or nut milk (start with less, add one spoon at a time)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Beat or stir the dough until all the ingredients are incorporated and you have a smooth, sturdy cookie dough that sticks together when you grab a piece and form a ball. It should not be wet or sticky. Add just enough rice milk until this occurs- start with one tablespoon at a time and add more slowly, as you need it to make the dough malleable.
Form the dough into 18 balls and place the balls of dough on the prepared baking sheet. Press down slightly to flatten just a bit- not too thin. Mine looked like domes.
Place the baking sheet into the center of a pre-heated oven and bake until firm and golden- about 20 to 25 minutes. They will appear slightly soft to a light touch, but firm in the center; they firm up more as they cool.
Do a test run if you like to determine exact baking time for your particular oven.
Cool cookies on a wire rack. Lovely warm from the oven.
Wrap by twos in foil for freezing in bags. Gluten-free baked goods stay fresher longer if you freeze them.
Options:
Add in dark chocolate chips to half the batch for a yummy peanut butter chocolate chip cookie.
Use almond butter, sunflower, pumpkin seed, or cashew butter if you prefer.
If you prefer baking with eggs, use one to two large free-range organic eggs, beaten.
For more substitution help, please see my guide to baking with substitutions here.
Find quinoa cereal flakes in the hot cereal section of your local natural market.