We should talk about these cookies. They are tasty, peanut buttery treats stuffed full of chocolate chips and hearty oats. In fact, oat flour is the only flour involved, so these cookies are gluten free. They’re also naturally sweetened with maple syrup, which has more redeeming properties than the brown sugar called for in the original recipe. I found the inspiration in King Arthur’s Whole Grain Baking book, which reminded me of my friend Tessa’s new maple-sweetened peanut butter cookies recipe. After comparing the two, I thought I just might be able to replace the sugar with maple syrup, and what do you know? It actually worked.
These cookies are more like a no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookie than a buttery Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie. They’re soft and fluffy, with a creamy interior that almost seems to stick to the roof of my mouth like a spoonful of peanut butter. I brought my first batch over to my friends’ house on Sunday and my friends loved them.
P.s. Here’s a banana and honey version of these cookies! Make it vegan: Substitute a flax egg for the regular egg, coconut oil for the butter, and make sure to use non-dairy chocolate chips, such as Enjoy Life brand. Storage suggestions: These cookies keep well in an air-tight plastic bag for a couple of days. Freeze for longer-term storage. Change it up: These cookies should be totally adaptable! Use only 1 cup oats, ground, for flatter cookies. Try substituting some chopped pecans or walnuts for some of the chocolate chips, and/or stir in the unsweetened coconut flakes. If you do both, you can call these cookies flourless cowboy cookies!
