Healthy Cookie

I know, I know, it sounds like an oxymoron. But it's not. Those two things can actually go together.

I'll tell you what doesn't go together though. Me. And food photography. Never gonna happen. So you'll just have to excuse that picture down there and pretend that the pile of cookies looks delicious. I can assure you that it is, because it has since been demolished.

Backstory (isn't there always one?): I'm trying out a new "lifestyle change"- which for the record, I love that this is now what we have decided to call that thing that is really a diet, because we all know diets don't work. Right. Onward. The goal of this new lifestyle is to eat like a vegan until 6pm, and then after that, you can have whatever you want, within moderation of course. It's really not that hard - I have a green breakfast smoothie and then eat some more vegetables for lunch. And I'm a really big fan of the part that lets me cheat every day (after 6:00), instead of just one day a week. Who has enough self-control to wait six days for all the good stuff? Not me, for sure. And anyway, it's kind of fun coming up with new foods that make veggies and other healthy foods taste good...I like that part a lot, too.

But I can't live without cookies, not even for 18 hours a day. Thanks, genetics.

So I found this gluten-free peanut butter cookie recipe on Pinterest, and then turned it vegan too. And now I eat cookies for breakfast, and don't even feel guilty about it.

I'm sure this "lifestyle change" is going to show results fast. Ha.

Gluten-free (with Vegan option) Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from this recipe.

1 cup + 1 heaping tablespoon natural creamy or chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs (or make the equivalent flax eggs)
2/3 cup rolled oats (gluten-free)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup (Vegan) chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Prepare flax eggs, if using, and set in the refrigerator. If using regular eggs, skip this step.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a large bowl beat peanut butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth, about 3 minutes (or stirring with a wooden spoon works too). Mix in dry ingredients (oats, baking soda) with a wooden spoon, then gently fold in chocolate chips.
4. Roll cookies into 2 inch dough balls and place onto cookie sheet 2 inches apart.
5. Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes and remove when edges barely begin to turn a golden brown. The cookies may look a little underdone, but they will continue to cook once you remove them from the oven. Cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 
6. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.

Makes 16-20 cookies.

Notes: Feel free to substitute almond butter or another nut butter in replace of peanut butter. I think you could also take the sugar down to 1/4 or 1/3 cup and add a tablespoon or two of agave nectar and it would taste just as good. The first time I made these, I think I took the sugar down too far, and they tasted more like granola bites than cookies, and I knew they were healthy. So unless you want to realize just how good-for-you these are, stick to the suggested amount(s) of sugar.