A Little Nutty

Things are cooling down here in Indiana and by things I mean the weather. It's the craziest thing to me that it's 40 degrees and I went outside in a long sleeve shirt and jacket. If Florida reached 40 degrees, I was in my thickest sweater with an under shirt topped with a winter coat.  I suppose I accept the fact that this is nothing compared to what the winter holds, so I might as well embrace it. 

 

Paul and I finally went to a Fall festival-ish event last weekend! It was actually at a dairy farm. It had a corn maze, tractor ride, pumpkin painting, games, and so much more! The event was extremely informative for those of us that don't know a lot about dairy production. The hay ride took us through where all the cows are kept, explaining the process, what they eat, how much milk they produce, and how they're taken care of.  I was thoroughly impressed at how entertaining it was to all ages. We even took a pumpkin back as a souvenir. 

Easiest Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies

One of my most thrilling challenges is cooking for Paul. He's had Celiac Disease since he was little. There is a story behind this that is his to share, but I am here to support him and make gluten free food. 

Have you ever looked for gluten in packaged foods?? Practically everything in the store says "may contain gluten". I picked up a bag of fries and Paul quickly pointed out the unfortunate warning on the back. Gluten in fries?!? To be fair, Walmart's brand seems to be one of a few that I've had this issue with. It's because everything is packaged in the same facility so they have to put the warning. 

Luckily, I took on a healthier eating style before meeting Paul so this transition wasn't as difficult as I thought. I actually just make a lot of "Whole 30" meals for us so we're eating extremely healthy all the time... until dessert. 

Ice cream has been our go-to dessert until it started getting cold. I had a co-worker mention these gluten free peanut butter cookies his wife makes. What was better was I remembered the recipe the entire day and had all the ingredients already! I made them that night and knew we were in trouble. 

These are by far the easiest cookies I have ever made. They are also the most addicting! We've made a different batch every week for the past month. We've tried baking soda, vanilla extract, and chocolate as a fourth ingredient. I prefer them with dark chocolate and refused to make more until we restocked. Paul was not having that! He took it upon himself to make these with vanilla extract last week. 

It was so fun just sitting on the couch telling him the directions. He struggled with the flattening part because he wanted to use his fingers instead of his palm- hence the creepy smily face on the bottom row. Regardless, I was so proud that he was able to make these by himself and I wanted to share this fun easy recipe with you in case you've never googled peanut butter cookies to realize how easy they are. 

Easiest Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Prep Time: 5 min       Cook Time: 12 min       Yield: makes about 15 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg

Optional: 

• Dark chocolate chips (better if they're the minis)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (makes them rise more)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Stir all ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. 
3. Prepare a cookie sheet with tin foil and cooking spray (I like coconut oil spray)
4. Shape the dough into little balls (I prefer to use my hands)
5. Place them about 2 inches apart
6. Flatten each ball (I use my palm)
7. Make pretty designs with a fork. (or not)
8. Cook for 12 min. 
9. Let cool 5-10 min.
10. Enjoy!

Tips:

• Add an extra egg for gooier cookies
• Try to not get addicted