Monday Munchies - Wheat-Free Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips and Peanut Butter

It is 5:30 Monday morning and I'm super excited, which means...I'm leaving for Jackson, Wyoming in 30 minutes!  Don't worry, I'll keep you all posted on my adventures along the way, but now back to business.

This week's recipe is a tasty new cookie recipe I tried last week.  Although it is gluten free, it doesn't have any special flours or other weird ingredients so it tastes just like a normal delicious cookie, and the raw cookie dough is awesome too (don't worry mom, I survived the raw egg)!  The only downfall of these is that after a day or so they get a little dry (nothing a little nuking in the microwave can't help though).  The next time I bake these I will probably only bake a dozen or so, then scoop out dough balls onto a cookie sheet, put the cookie sheet in the freezer for several hours, then put the frozen dough balls into a freezer safe container to store them until I want fresh baked cookies again!  I also think these would be good with almond butter in case anyone has peanut allergies.  I apologize for the bad pic!  This was a last minute Monday Munchies recipe decision so this is a poorly lit smartphone pic of the picture in the cookbook (there was only one burned cookie left in my house and that picture turned out even worse).

Wheat-Free Oatmeal Cookies 

with Chocolate Chips and Peanut Butter

3 cups rolled oats (not instant)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cups creamy peanut butter 

6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temp

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup packed brown sugar 

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper. 

Combine the oats, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. 

Place the peanut butter, butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl and beat together with an electric mixer on medium-high until smooth (2-3 min).  Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.  Beat in the oat mixture on low until just incorporated.  Mix in the chocolate chips. 

Drop the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between each cookie.  (I found that the cookies stayed in whatever shape the dough balls are, so I needed to press the dough down to flatten the balls so they actually looked like cookies - the learning process was not pretty, but it sure tasted good!)

Bake the cookies until they are golden around the edges but still soft on top, 10-12 minutes.  Let the cookies stand on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then carefully slide the parchment sheet with the cookies to a wire rack and let them cool completely.  (I kind of skipped that last step.  I waited until they were cool enough to transfer without falling apart and they turned out fine.)

Makes: 48 cookies

Recipe Source:  Cookie Swap Cookbook