When I first came across this recipe, I was a bit skeptical. There were so few ingredients and it looked too easy to be really good. But I went ahead and made them and I’m glad I did. These cookies are SO good! I plan on making them again and again. They have no butter or eggs. You don’t even need a mixer to make these. The recipe calls for chunky peanut butter – I used smooth because that’s all I had in my pantry – and they turned out delicious. So you can’t go wrong either way.My preferred brand of peanut butter is MaraNatha organic peanut butter. The only ingredients are organic dry roasted peanuts and sea salt – that’s all you need. Beware of the ‘no stir’ peanut butters. They contain sugar and palm oil. It’s also important to buy organic peanut butter. Conventionally grown peanuts are full of contaminants (pesticides, fertilizers, and molds) – and kids are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of pesticides.
Makes 2 – 3 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or spelt flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1 cup organic, chunky (or smooth) natural peanut butter
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- flaky sea salt (such as Maldon) for sprinkling on top (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place rack in top third of oven.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate larger bowl, combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, olive oil, and vanilla. Stir until combined.
- Pour the flour mixture over the peanut butter mixture and stir until barely combined.
- Let sit for 5 minutes and give one more quick stir.
- Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Press down on each cookie gently with the back of a fork to make criss-crosses (if the batter is too loose for this step, go ahead and chill it for a while before doing this).
- Sprinkle a few flakes of sea alt on top of each cookie if desired.
- Bake for 9 or 10 minutes, depending on your oven – make sure not to over bake or they will be dry.
- Let cool 5 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Adapted from the food blog 101cookbooks.com by Heidi Swanson.