No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies: GF and BF Approved

In college, I lived less than 5 blocks from my Grandma and would visit her often. The usual routine consisted of a home cooked meal and then she would load me up with leftovers and half of her costco buys. In return, I would help her with all of her computer needs. Her asks were always pretty challenging; downloading pictures from an email and signing up for Pogo.com. Even though Grandma thinks I am a tech queen, I am actually pretty technologically challenged. It’s a miracle in itself that I am able to keep up a blog. When it comes down to it, I’ve realized it’s not a matter of intelligence; it is a matter of interest. If I spent half the amount of time reading instructions on how to fix something on my computer as I do perusing recipes on the internet, I’d be writing code by now. But, I lack the desire to learn so I use my baking skills to entice people to help me! I recently asked my designer coworker to help me with a more personalized logo for my blog, and she was nice enough to find me a better layout and whipped up a new header. Thanks to her, my blog is finally getting the look and feel I have been wanting! I asked what her favorite dessert is, and since she recently found out she is allergic to gluten, she quickly replied “anything that is gluten-free!”

And the challenge began. I have never baked anything gluten-free before, so I really had to do some recipe digging. I wanted to make something that was naturally gluten free, as opposed to something with 4 different types of gluten-free flours that I most likely wouldn’t use again. The solution to this challenge:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal No-Bakes!

An old roommate introduced me to these a few years ago and they are quite a treat without the hassle of an oven. This is a quick cookie that you might already have the ingredients on hand (unless you are trying to make it GF!) Prior to shopping, I did my online research so I was sure to have all the ingredients free and clear of gluten. The tricky thing is that ingredients like oatmeal are naturally gluten free, yet if they don’t say they are gluten free, then they might have been processed in the same factory as wheat which will potentially contaminate it. For all the research I did to make cookies, I could have learned how to use Photoshop and make my own logo…but I’d rather put my trust in the expert. Whole Foods had everything I needed and I was able to make a classic dessert into a gluten-free delight.

The Ingredients (You can easily halve this recipe too if you only want a dozen):

• 2 cups sugar
• 4 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup peanut butter (check for the GF symbol)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla (I read mixed reviews on this being GF, but the consensus seemed that the real extract is a-okay)
• 3 cups Gluten-Free Oatmeal (use quick oats if they have them!)
• Waxed paper

Combine the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and let it boil for 1 minute.

Turn off the heat and add the peanut butter, vanilla, and oatmeal. Stir it all together and drop the cookie mixture onto the waxed paper in the desired size.

Let them harden for at least an hour, if not overnight.

*Recipe adapted from www.foodnetwork.com

Two things to take away from this post:

1. If you have a gluten-free friend, you can still make them a delicious cookie without buying crazy ingredients.
2. If I ever ask you for help, you can be sure wonderful baked goods will be coming your way.