December Sanity Challenge: The One, The Only Batch of Cookies (Oatmeal, Peanut Butter, and Chocolate Chip Cookies)

Good morning, and happy Tuesday!

I can't believe Christmas is in one week - time has seriously flown by this month. On the other hand, I say that about every month now; I feel like time keeps moving faster and faster, which I hear only gets more pronounced as you get older. 

If that's the case, then time will be moving at ludicrous speed by the time I'm eligible to join the AARP. To round out the Spaceballs reference, by that point time will have gone plaid.

 

We have our office holiday party this afternoon, which should be fun -- I have to say, this is the one (and only) time of year when I actually feel lucky to have Celiac Disease. I have no desire whatsoever to gorge myself on brownies and baked goods, not because I don't love them (which I do - if it were possible to go into a brownie coma, I'm pretty sure I would've done that in my pre-Celiac days), but simply because I have no desire to be monumentally sick. 

No desire to get horrifically ill? It's shocking, I know. 

I do, however, have to exercise some self control when it comes to my biggest weakness: gluten-free cookies.

Hello, Lillian. I'm here to annihilate your willpower.

These, friends, are my biggest diet nemesis. I'm powerless in their presence. They're like kryptonite, if kryptonite was as addictive as the most heinously addictive street drugs available.

In sticking with my December Sanity Challenge decision to only make one batch of cookies, I'm doing myself a huge favor by taking a third of the batch to work for the holiday party, and shipping the other two thirds to my best friend in Seattle and my Granddad in North Carolina as part of their respective Christmas presents. 

I am leaving exactly 4 cookies for Brandon and me to eat.

And if he doesn't eat his soon, there's a very real chance that I'll wake up in the middle of the night, run to the kitchen, furtively stuff them into my mouth while looking around frantically like a caged animal, and then scurry back to bed and deny all knowledge of the missing cookies in the morning.

You can think what you want based on the crumbs all over my face,
but I'll deny everything.

They're usually made with butter and eggs, but since my best friend is as sensitive to lactose as I am to gluten (which is to say: extremely), I substituted Earth Balance in place of butter and vegan chocolate chips in place of milk chocolate semi-sweet chips.

I also substituted flax eggs in place of the real thing -- not for any virtuous health-related reason, but rather because I have no self-control whatsoever and I want to be able to eat the batter.

Because I'm five.

And when it comes to baked goods, I want my instant gratification and I want it now.

Mmmmmm. Batter. Come to mama.

(*Washes batter off of face*)

However, if you're on board with either dairy or eggs, feel free to substitute them back in! 

Oatmeal, Peanut Butter, and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from my mother-in-law's recipe for Monster Cookies
(Gluten-free, vegan)

1 cup Earth Balance

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3 flax eggs (3 tablespoons ground flax seeds mixed with 3 tablespoons water)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
4 1/2 cups rolled gluten-free oats
1 1/2 packages vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. While it's heating, cream the butter and sugars.

Next, add the flax egg -- it's super easy to make. In place of each real egg, mix one tablespoon of ground flax with one tablespoon warm water. Let it sit for a few minutes so it can gel together. This recipe called for three.

Add the vanilla and peanut butter, and mix well. Then add the oats and chocolate chips.

Drop dough onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Once they're baked, let them cool before transferring them to a cookie rack - they're really crumbly when they're still hot. I flattened mine out halfway through the baking process, so they look like regular cookies - but if you leave them alone, they'll hold their shape and emerge from the oven as little balls of peanut buttery, chocolatey glory.

Of course, you're going to have to sample a few just to make sure they turned out well. (And by a few, I mean at least five.)