More baby food tricks: GF Dark Chocolate PB Oatmeal Cookies

Coming up this week:

I'll announce the winner of our last March Madness giveaway, my first video workout (I'm going to post to the blog!), a follow-up from one of our readers about the let's eat greens! week challenge, an interview with Dreena Burton about her new cookbook, as well as the usual good stuff.

Did you have a good weekend?

This weekend we were swamped with visits from extended family.

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law came to visit from out of town, as well as my sister-in-law, Kristen, who is married to my little brother Nate. My sister and kids also came over to visit. My kids love aunts and uncles and cousins, and I do too--they make our job as parents a bit easier for a time, and kids never can be loved too much, so the more the merrier.

Here is my sister-in-law and my little brother Nate, on their wedding day. Are they not a radiant couple?

Nate, three years younger than me, would chase me and friends around our yard with rakes when we were kids.

We didn't like each other growing up, and I feel bad about that, because now he's one of my favorite people. It makes me sad that I don't get to see him much. He lives in another state and is studying to become a chiropractor. He is the essence of cool--athletic, sometimes goofy, and always willing to chase his nieces and nephews around. Kristen is thoughtful, kind, and gorgeous.

When they were newly weds, they lived close by, and came over often, sometimes a few times a week for dinner or just to visit. Kristen has a sweet tooth and I loved having another reason to make treats. Having her visit this weekend made me wistful for the days when she and Nate would come over and I would cook for them.

I had to continue the tradition, so this weekend, in her honor, I made some dark chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies (gluten-free, of course!).

I made the cookies using Stevia in the Raw, but that was not the only sweetener. I also used sucanat and agave, so the cookies had a slight bittersweet aftertaste, but hardly noticeable. If you don't like stevia, don't use it (double the amount of sucanat), but if you want to reduce the amount of sugars and calories without impairing the taste, Stevia in the Raw (the kind that replaces sugar cup for cup), works just fine.

This is an oil-free recipe, but tastes more rich, and has more of a cookie, rather than cake texture (which is often the case when you eliminate oil in cookie recipes), because of the peanut butter.

Gluten-free, I used homemade brown rice flour (made fresh using my Blendtec) and raw old-fashioned oats. Brown rice flour is a great neutral gluten-free flour (unlike say, fava bean flour, which gives a beany taste to some baked goods).

Brown rice flour--inexpensive if you buy the rice in bulk and grind it yourself.

And remember, when making cookies, a good cookie scoop is your friend. Helps to keep everything uniform.

One of my "secret" ingredients? Baby food (again!). This time, plum (prune) flavor. Helps to reduce the fat in the recipe as well as adds moisture (which is important when baking with stevia.).

Part of the delight of making cookies is eating the cookie dough while making them--which you can do without worries since the cookie dough is egg-free!

GF Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

GF, DF

Makes 3 dozen, small cookies

• 1 3/4 c. brown rice flour
• 3/4 c. Stevia in the Raw (this is not green stevia)
• 3/4 c. sucanat (or omit stevia & double amount of sucanat)
• 1/2 TBS. baking powder (if omitting stevia, only use 1 tsp. baking powder)
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda (or 1/4 tsp. if omitting stevia)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. dark, unsweetened cocoa
• 2 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 TBS. ground flaxseed
• 1/2 c. plain unsweetened soy milk
• 1/2, 4 oz. jar prune baby food (4 tablespoons)
• 2/3 c. unsalted natural peanut butter
• 1/4 c. agave nectar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 TBS. pure chocolate extract (optional, but makes for a darker chocolate flavor)

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Sift flour and dry ingredients, except for oats in a large mixing bowl. Add oats and mix well. In a blender, blend milk and flax seed until frothy. Add remaining ingredients and blend. Combine wet and dry ingredients (don't worry if the dough looks too thick, it's supposed to be this way) and mix until all the dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.

Using a cookie scoop (small or large), place cookies on a baking stone, or greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. For small cookies, bake for 8 minutes. For large cookies, bake for 11 minutes. Take out of oven, let cool for 1 minute, then place on a cookie rack to cool further.

You'll want to eat them when their still warm, so plop down with a riveting book and a glass of milk. Savor each chewy morsel!

Nutrition info: For 36 cookies: Per cookie: 110 calories, 3 g protein, 3 g fat, 1 g fiber, 3.2 mg sodium.

[Hey! Want more healthy dessert ideas? Check out this link at the Diet, Dessert, & Dogs blog, where this recipe and more are posted.]

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