Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings: Plain 'ol Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Cookies

Friday, December 12, 2008

Plain 'ol Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Cookies

Promises, promises. I said I would post about last weekend's baking successes this week, and the next thing I know it is Friday, and I have yet to do it! Things at work have been pretty busy; I have been loafing around at home - just reading and playing Hot Shots Golf on the PS3. It's been fun, and I've really needed a break. My weekends have been so busy that I work all weekend before I go back to work, and then I also want to try a few new meals here and there. There just hasn't been the time for it! So on Wednesday, I took a much needed half day from work, didn't do anything important at all (that was the point!), and we've even been munching on Amy's California burgers (bought from the Peace Nook, also using local pickles) and fried potatoes (local), and steamed spinach (local). They have made for a couple of nights of easy meals, and I have gotten to relax! Normally I would prefer making my own "burgers" of course, but I didn't have any frozen and making burgers from scratch takes away from that much needed relaxation time. Anywho, this is one of the two successes I had last weekend; I will double-post today to get them both up.

A note: I still have lots of baking to do this weekend, so I am making simple tried and true meals. I am going to try my hand at making homemade gnocchi again tonight (as I won't be baking after work), I will be making soup tomorrow (for soup and bread night), and after that, I have planned a menu of things I have already posted about, chosen for their tastiness, but also the ease in preparation. We will be having Leng's Veggie Fried Rice, Bean Burritos (using 'Traditional' Refried Beans), Super Easy Tasty Taco Salad, Fajita Burritos, and perhaps a frozen Amy's pizza somewhere if needed. You will notice that most of these meals rely on refried beans. Brett will make up a huge batch and we will have the basic "element" for most of the week's meals already prepared. This will mean that I will (hopefully) have some relaxation time this weekend and during the week, but that also means that most of the posts you will see in the coming week or two will be baked good related. Please bear with me, the regular food will return after the holidays.

Back to the cookies! Geez I can get off on a tangent, can't I? I needed to come up with something that I could make for a family member that is allergic to chocolate and caffeine. I had Brett pry a little bit and we found out he likes peanut butter, oatmeal cookies, and cheese cake. Well the first two I can work with, the cheese cake - well that is a problem. I don't eat dairy and Brett despises cheese cake, so there would be nobody to test it. And somehow I imagine he wouldn't want a Tofutti cheese cake, and I am not about to taste Tofutti cream cheese - the thought just kind of grosses me out. So I chose to try out peanut butter cookies, and something I hoped would be at least reminiscent of cream cheese (see the next post).

These cookies aren't really anything special, other than being whole grain, super tasty, and loaded with Missouri-produced peanut butter (and eggs!). Mine didn't come out as pretty as I would have liked it to have. I guess I'm just not all that good at shaping things.

I've yammered enough; let's get to the picture and recipe!















The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Plain 'ol Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe modified from here.

1/2 cup raw organic sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cub Earth Balance, at room temperature
1/2 cup smooth organic peanut butter +
1 egg +
1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Using an electric mixer, blend Earth Balance for a minute or two. Add the sugars and blend for another minute or two.

Add the peanut butter and egg and combine well.

Slowly stir in the dry ingredients using a large spoon.

Form into a ball, cover, and refrigerate for about three hours.

Preheat oven to 300.

Form dough into large balls (about 2 inches). Place 3 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Flatten a little.

Using a fork, press in the "usual" crisscross pattern if desired.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

These were really yummy. And we didn't need anyone to help us polish these suckers off - we did just fine by ourselves. :-)

I'll be back sometime later today to post about my other baking success.

Happy Friday everyone!

'Til next time.

3 comments:

jessy said...

oh gosh - you're a busy bee too, Jennifer! i agree with the tasty decision to pick up some of the amy's burgers. they are awesome and it's nice that you get to relax and not worry about cooking dinners and stressing out. so relax some and enjoy that PS3! (dan wants one sooooo badly - i think he may get one for his bday or something!)

homemade gnocchi sounds glorious! and so do all of your tasty meals with those scrumptious re-fried beans. i keep forgetting to try your recipe, and i really must give it "a go". i loooove refried beans, and since i fear canned food your recipe = perfect! :D we've got a bunch of dried pinto beans at home i could totally use. mmmmmmmmmm!

the peanut butter cookies look amazing - and i bet they taste sooooo goooooood! thanks for the recipe! i think i can sub in some ground flax seeds for the egg and they'll be just as yummy!

looking forward to drooling over more delicious baked goods! i love that you keep it all as local as you can. you rock, Jennifer!

Anonymous said...

I think your cookies look beautiful! Your cookie-shaping skills look good to me :o)

Courtney

J said...

Jessy - This time of year has a way of overwhelming people, I'm not sure why because its not just the holidays, work is busier around this time too.

I like the Amy's burgers, they were nice to have so that I could chill out a bit. Brett had wanted a PS3 for awhile too, but they were so expensive, so when they started getting cheaper, he got one. He gets very few games for the system though, he has a few favorites and he sticks with those.

Hahaha about the canned food, I generally try to stay away from that kind of stuff myself, who knows what lurks in there. I hope you like the refried beans if you try them, we eat them so often, it is crazy! I'm happy we finally have a recipe we love.

I loved how thick and chewy these cookies were, and I personally love peanut butter, so really, I have nothing to complain about. I bet the flax seeds would work wonderfully in place of the egg, it would give them a nice boost of Omega 3s too. They need to start growing flax in Missouri!

I do what I can, with flours and oils and such, there isn't a whole lot I can do, unless I want to use local soybean oil (since we grow so much soy in MO), though I've never actually seen any, so, anywho. You rock too Jessy, have a great weekend.

Courtney - Thank you, they tasted good enough that I didn't care that they didn't look perfect either, who wants to eat food that looks so perfect it looks fake anyway?