In the Kitchen - Peanut Butter Cookies the Healthy Way

In the search to find a wonderful cookie recipe that uses only wholesome good ingredients and no refined sugars, I have made cookies that taste like bricks, are too chewy, too "blah", and basically not good enough to share.  A cookie needs to satisfy that little sweet craving many of us have but not be harmful to us in any way... and in my house it must pass the "Journey test".  It has to be something my little picky eater will enjoy in her lunch at school and I would like it to look like the cookies the other kids are eating. It is hard to swim upstream against the tide in 6th grade.

Here is a recipe that I have made a few times for my family and we all love them.  The perfect combination of sweet, satisfying and healthy, here is the recipe:

Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:Dry Stuff 

·         3/4 c whole wheat flour ( I substituted some of the flour with acorn flour and some with flaxseed meal)

·         3/4 c oats 

·         1/2 tsp salt 

·         1/2 tsp baking soda 

·         optional: 1 tsp cinnamon (the most perfect batch I made used 1/2 tsp cinnamon)

Moist Stuff 

·         1 c smooth natural peanut butter ( I used 1 cup of organic freshly ground) 

·         1/2 c honey

·         1 egg 

·         2 tsp vanilla 

·         optional: 1/3-1/2 c chocolate or carob chips

Preparation:

1.      Combine dry ingredients

2.      Combine moist ingredients

3.      Mix dry and moist ingredients together. 

4.      Cool in the fridge for 20 minutes. 

5.      Drop teaspoons of batter on a parchment-lined cookie sheet or baking sheet for cookies. 

6.      Flatten with a fork if you like. (These cookies will not flatten themselves while baking so give them a nice cookie shape before putting them in the oven)

7.      Bake at 375 for 8-12 minutes - edges will be slightly browned - be careful not to burn as honey browns fast.  (when substituting honey for sugar in a recipe, turn the heat of the oven down about 25 degrees and check it earlier than the recommended cooking time)

Store these cookies in the refrigerator!  I made the mistake of leaving some of my cookies on the counter in a cookie jar and within a few days they spoiled with the beginning of molds.  These cookies have lasted up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator though!  Removing all the preservatives and chemicals from foods really does change the shelf life of the food.  The more chemicals added, the longer they last on the grocery shelf.  That is great for the manufacturer but not necessarily so great for us.