Cooking Lesson #52—Flourless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Flourless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

How you doin’? Just think, today is one day closer to getting all this behind us… the coronavirus that is, plenty of other stuff to work on to improve the state of our human condition.
 
I was thinking the other day how could advanced civilizations like the Incas and Aztecs simply disappear from the face of the earth? I’ve watched lots of shows on the Discovery Channel that speculate that it was caused by war, famine, water shortage or the collapse of agriculture—but maybe it was just a pandemic. Who knows? Too much to ponder this early in the morning—let’s talk about cookies.
 
I’ve been working on a project with a Kelly—he’s the COO at Algood Food Company in Louisville, Kentucky. Kelly told me he wanted to make the Oatmeal Cookies from a previous recipe blog, but that his wife has a sensitivity to gluten. He wanted to know what I could suggest. So, we came up with a Flourless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie that the whole family could enjoy.
 
A couple of years ago we developed a line of baked good for the National Peanut Board to be used by Yale University’s foodservice department. Our research developments discovered that peanut flour and peanut butter can be used to substitute all-purpose flour in some baking recipes. So here you go Kelly and “Mrs. Kelly” and the whole Kelly family—happy baking!
 
No one will ever believe these chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are baked without flour and are gluten-free.
 
Flourless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Cook time:  10 minutes
Total time:  20 minutes
Yield:  20 large cookies
 
Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups old-fashioned quick-cooking oats (be sure they are gluten-free oats if you want the cookies to be gluten-free)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, pecans or peanuts
1 cup dark chocolate chips
 
Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350°F.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar until smooth and creamy.
3. Add the eggs (one at a time) and the vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
4. Add the oats, cinnamon and baking soda and mix on low speed until just combined. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips.
5. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
6. Using a 1-ounce cookie scoop, drop two-tablespoon sized portions of dough a few inches apart onto lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets. Lightly wet your hands and slightly flatten the top of each scoop of dough with the palm of your wet hand.
7. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

ChefSecret: You can even add a half cup of raisins, dried cherries or blueberries to make a more complex cookie.  By letting the dough rest for a half hour before baking you allow the and oats to re-hydrate and absorb all the liquid. It also allows the cinnamon to blossom in flavor.

#OatmealCookies #Dessert #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #Gluten-Free #Baking #PeanutButter

---