Life lessons I have learned from cooking:
1) Perfection is overrated.
Burn marks? No way, that’s caramelization. It adds flavor. An oval pizza crust? Call it rustic, its all the rage in the food world. Quirks are what make food (and ourselves!) special, and once you accept them others will too.
2) Make the food, don’t let the food make you.
I can’t make that, its never been done before.
I can’t make that, its already been done a million different ways.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used those two phrases. Don’t give others the chance to limit your creativity. If you want to make curried chocolate chip cookies with lime zest and pumpkin seeds, then shake things up. Want to try your hand at overnight oatmeal? Then make it the absolute best yet. Go for it. Follow your own ideas and don’t be afraid to try new or old things. And who knows? Those cookies just might be a raving success.
3) Don’t put important things on the back burner.
In my kitchen, putting something on the back burner is a surefire way to ruin it. It is a place of scorched gravy and overcooked pasta. It is where food goes to die. Sure, I still use the back burner, but only for things like boiling water. I keep the important stuff right up front. Right where I can see it and give it the attention it deserves.
4) If at first your recipe doesn’t turn out, stir in a few more ingredients and make something new.
That’s how these cookies were born. I had the great idea to make a healthier Buckeye. I would use coconut sugar in place of powdered and natural peanut butter to avoid some hydrogenated oils. The result: grainy peanut butter candies that melted into pools at room temperature. It just wouldn’t do. So, I stirred in some coconut flour, coconut oil, gingerbread spices (it’s the holidays after all!), added some binding agents and popped them in the oven for 12-14 minutes. These cookies turned out fantastic.
Lesson learned.
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These peanut butter cookies are all made up for the holidays! I used a stand mixer to whip up these cookies in no time at all. If you don’t have a stand mixer, don’t panic. You can still make these scrumptious treats. A hand mixer, a food processor, or some good old fashioned elbow grease can be used just as well. Just be sure to let the dough chill in the fridge for two hours before baking. Without this cooling time, the cookies will flatten out.
Ingredients
- 1 cup natural peanut butter
- 2 cups coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons Ener-g egg replacer mixed with 4 tablespoons warm water
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- More coconut sugar for rolling
Instructions
- In a medium bowl whisk together the coconut flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the peanut butter, sugar, and coconut oil. Mix on medium speed until well combined. Add in the egg replacer mixture and the vanilla extract. Mix until combined, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Slowly add in the flour mixture. Continue mixing until well combined. Place the dough in a bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
- Using one slightly heaping tablespoon of the dough at a time, roll the dough into a circle and then flatten slightly into a plump disc. Roll the cookie in sugar and place on the cookie sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough, making sure to place the cookies 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet. Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes or until the edges just barely start to brown. Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then move to a cooking rack and allow to cool. Serve.
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