cookies

Chocolate Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies

Spring is just around the corner which means one thing, it’s finally time to get in shape. Hhahhaha no, I didn’t believe that statement for a second either! I’m all for health and exercise (says the girl currently eating her weight in cookies), but there’s a time and a place. And this is neither the time, nor the place. Chocolate Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies, because Spring might be on it’s way but these cookies are here now!

Chocolate Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/4 c. Almond Flour
1/2 c. Peanut Butter
1 Egg
1/4 c. Coconut Oil
1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 Bar of Chocolate
1/8 tsp. Salt
4 tbsp. Maple Syrup

Whisk together almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Add in the rest of the ingredients and thoroughly stir together until the cookie batter is formed.

Place the dough in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. While the dough chills, heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the dough from the fridge and begin forming small balls with your hands, sticking a piece of chocolate in the center of each one. Roll the ball of dough until you can’t see the chocolate.

Place the balls on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and flatten with the bottom of a glass. Bake for 15 minutes.

My favorite dessert is cookies, and it’s always hard to find dairy free cookies that actually taste good! These are diary free, gluten free, and delicious!

Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I know, I know, the holidays are over and it’s time to get healthy…… but I’d rather eat cookies. Put down the celery, step away from the spinach this is no time for vegetables. This is the time to set a precedence for the whole year! Life is too short to skip dessert, especially when chocolate is involved. Here’s to a happy, healthy, and sweet new year!

Double chocolate chunk cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2c. Flour
1/2 c. Cocoa Powder
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 c. Vegan Butter or Coconut Oil
2/3 c. Sugar
1 tsp. Almond Extract
2 Eggs
1.5 oz. Vegan Chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl, cream together the butter (or coconut oil), and sugar. Add 1 teaspoon of almond extract, and 2 eggs. Pour the butter mixture into the flour and thoroughly mix.

Chop 1.5 oz. (half a chocolate bar) and throw it into the dough. Once the chocolate chunks are fully incorporated, roll the dough into balls and place on a parchment paper lined sheet pan. Flatten each ball with the bottom of a glass and bake for 10 minutes.

These are THE BEST cookies for dunking! Grab a mug full of coffee, or a glass full of milk and go to town!

Dairy Free Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Lavender is one of the great bounties of summer. Blueberries, blackberries and rain aren’t that bad either, but lavender takes the cake, and tastes great in cake! Well in today’s case, it takes the shortbread. Let them eat shortbread! Who needs real bread? Not me. No more sandwiches! Just cookies. Now, that’s a philosophy I can get on board with! These dairy-free Lavender Shortbread cookies will make you forget you gave up dairy products and are having nightly cheese dreams…. Just me?

Dairy-Free Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. All Purpose Flour
1/2 c. Sugar
1/2 c. Coconut Oil
1 tsp. Dried Lavender
1/8 tsp. Salt
2 tbl. Ice Water
1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Make sure the coconut oil is at room temperature and in solid form.

In a food processor grind a half cup of sugar and one teaspoon dried lavender. Once the lavender has been ground up and thoroughly mixed with the sugar, place it in a medium bowl. In the same bowl, add the room temperature coconut oil. Cream the oil and sugar together and add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Pour the coconut mixture into the flour and mix. Add two tablespoons of ice water and begin to form the dough.

Next, place the dough in parchment paper and roll into a tube. Refrigerate the dough for a half hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. After the half hour has passed, remove the dough from the fridge and slice into quarter-inch slices. Place the slices on a cookie sheet and put them in the top third of the oven. Bake for eighteen minutes. Once the cookies’ edges begin to turn brown remove it from the oven and allow them to cool at least five minutes on the sheet until you transfer them to a cooling rack.

Icebox Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches

Ah yes, the winds have changed. Spring is here and Summer is on the horizon! My friends, it is time to rise up and usher our food into the appropriate season! Ice Box Oatmeal Sandwiches anyone? They are the red headed (or should I say the strawberry blonde) step child of an ice cream sandwich. Strawberries have finally made an appearance and I am taking notice! Strawberry babies come on in, make your self comfortable. I won’t bite…. Ok I probably will….

Ingredients:

Cookies:
1/3 c. Brown Sugar
1/2 c. White Sugar
1 Stick Butter
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 c. All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 c. Rolled Oats

Cream:
1 c. Chopped Strawberries
1 tbl. White Sugar
1/4 c. Water
1 c. Heavy Whipping Cream

Preheat the oven to 375. Begin by creaming together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Add the egg, vanilla and mix with a hand mixer.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Once the flour mixture is thoroughly mixed, stir in the butter mixture. Next step is to add the rolled oats. When cookie batter is ready, make evenly sized balls and place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet (make sure to space the cookies about 2 inches apart). Using the bottom of a cup, flatten the balls (wet the bottom of the glass with water or oil so it doesn’t stick to the batter). Bake the cookies for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Once the cookies are finished baking, remove them from the sheet and place on a wire rack to cool. This recipe should make about 14 medium sized cookies.

As the cookies cool it’s time to make the cream. Place the chopped strawberries in a small saucepan. Add water and sugar to the pan and let the mixture simmer. After about 5 minutes the strawberries will begin to break down. Once the strawberries have softened and the mixture is smooth, it’s ready to remove the saucepan from the heat and cool. Allow the strawberry sauce to cool completely before making the cream.

Now that the strawberries are cooled, it’s time to make strawberry cream! In a large bowl place the heavy whipping cream and strawberries. Using a hand mixer, whip the cream until it resembles whipped cream.

Fill a piping bag (a plastic bag with the tip cut off will work just as well) with the strawberry whipped cream. Pipe the cream on to the bottom of one cookie. Find a cookie that matches in size and top the cream with another cookie, making a sandwich. Once all the sandwiches are made, place them in the freezer for about an hour or until the cream has hardened.

Once the cream has hardened, melt some chocolate. I used semi sweet, but any chocolate will be delicious. Dip one side of the cookie into melted chocolate and place each one back in the freezer for another hour.

After the cream and chocolate have set, the sandwiches are ready to eat! Make sure to hide one or two of these yummies for yourself because everyone will want seconds.