Peanut Butter and Oat Cookies - Vegan & Gluten Free

I've been posting up soup recipes quite often so I figured I'd best post up a recipe for some cookies.

What I like about this recipe is the simplicity of the ingredients and that the cookies aren't too sweet.  I make them everyone once in a while when I have a cookie craving but don't want a large batch.

I am sure you could add a few cacao nibs or chocolate chips, but I have yet to try them that way.

**Tip - If you don't have quick oats on hand pulse some old fashioned oats in your blender or food processor to break them up a bit.

PEANUT BUTTER AND OAT COOKIES

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup All Natural Peanut Butter (not the kind with oil and sugar added)

1/4 cup Brown Sugar or Evaporated Cane Juice

1 tsp Vanilla

1 Tbsp Soy Milk - or other non-dairy milk

1-1/4 cups Quick Oats

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 Flax Egg (1 Tbsp Ground Flax Seeds + 3 Tbsp Warm Water)

** optional - a 1/4 tsp Cinnamon or ground Cardamom

** optional - a handful of Roasted Peanuts for decoration

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 350˚F (176.6˚C) and spray two baking sheets with non-stick spray.

2.  Mix the flax seeds with warm water.  Stir and set aside to thicken.

3.  Cream the peanut butter with the sugar.  Add the vanilla and non-dairy milk and mix again.

4.  Add the thickened flax egg to the peanut butter mixture and mix well.

5.  Add the oats, baking soda, (and cinnamon or cardamom if using this option) and stir until everything is incorporated.  Mixture will form a still dough you can handle.

6.  Roll into balls and press the ball flat with a rubber spatula or the bottom of a glass.  Top with a half roasted peanut or two.

(Ready for the oven)

7.  Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes until golden.

8.  Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make 15-18 cookies depending on size. 

NOTE - I have noticed that the cookies spread more when I use brown sugar.  Brown sugar was used in the cookies in all of these pictures.

- Bon Appetit

" Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter." - James A. Garfield

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Vegan Black Eyed Pea Soup

Well, since I put up a biscuit recipe last time, I figured why not another soup recipe to go with it.

Back eyed peas are popular in the southern US and considered a soul food.  Most recipes for black eyed pea soup contain several kinds of sausages, and a lot of them contain collard greens as well.

For my recipe I use a little liquid smoke to mimic sausage and leave out the greens.  Feel free to add a little spinach or whatever greens you have on hand.

Black eyed peas are a subspecies of the cowpea and are a legume rather than a pea.

VEGAN BLACK EYED PEA SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup Celery, diced

2-3 Carrots, sliced

1 Onion, chopped

3 cloves Garlic, minced

1 can diced no sodium added Tomatoes (I used Fire Roasted)

4 cups Water

2 -3 tsps Vegetable Bouillon or 'No Beef' Bouillon

2 - 15oz cans Black Eyed Peas, rinsed and drained (or 3 cups cooked)

1 large or 2 small Potatoes, diced

3/4 cup Corn kernels, frozen works well

1 tsp Herbes de Provence

1 Tbsp vegan Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 to 1 tsp Liquid Smoke

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Add approximately 1/4 cup of water to a large soup pot and saute celery, carrots, onion, and garlic until tender.

2.  Add tomatoes, water, bouillon, black eyed peas, potatoes, corn, herbes de provence, worcestershire sauce, and liquid smoke.

3.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for 25 minutes until all the veggies are cooked and the soup has thickened a little.

4.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

- Bon Appetit

" Soup is a lot like family.  Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics; and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor." - Marge Kennedy

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