A Week of Whole Grain Baking, Day 1: Nutty for Oats Cookies

The countdown to Pesach has begun and with that, so have my efforts to rid my cabinets and fridge of all chametz and/or perishable items. Months ago, in my excitement about finding whole grain flours, I bought a load of them. I stashed them in the fridge for safe keeping, and periodically used them for something or other. Now that Pesach is right around the corner, I'm scrambling to use up those flours (I hate waste!!) and whatnot. In the flour category, we have barley flour (the toughest to use up, it seems!), spelt flour, oat flour, whole wheat flour and a bit of rye flour. All this means I've been baking A LOT and mostly from the KAF Whole Grain Baking book as it is the best source of recipes that I own to use the flours. And so I bring to you   this post that will be the first of a week of Whole Grain Baking recipes (or more, if need be, until those flours are gone!). Nutty for Oats Cookies are, as the name implies, made with peanut butter, bound together by oat flour and oats (nary a grain of white flour in sight), with a healthy dose of chocolate chips added for good measure. Pretty much three of your favorite types of cookie all rolled into one. The cookies come together quite easily. I subbed the oat flour that I already had instead of grinding whole oats, and used quick cooking instead of old fashioned, as that's what I had on hand. On the first bake of these cookies, I didn't flatten down the dough and they didn't flatten themselves in the oven so on the remaining batches, I flattened them down to get a more traditional (and more attractive, in my opinion) cookie. They are delicious and will disappear quickly- you can sort of feel good about them because they are full of fiber and therefore....virtuous? Perhaps that may be pushing it. Watch these carefully so their bottoms don't get too well done.

Nutty for Oats Cookies
adapted from Whole Grain Baking

2/3 cup smooth peanut butter
4 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup oat flour
1 1/2 quick cooking oats
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment or bake on Silpat.

Place the peanut butter, margarine, brown sugar, vanilla, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.

Beat until well creamed.

Add the eggs,

and beat to blend.

Add the oat flour, oats and chocolate chips,

and beat to form a uniform cookie dough. The dough might be stiff at this point, so you may want to work it with your hands. Oats don't contain gluten so dont worry about overworking your dough.

Scoop cookies onto your prepared baking sheets and flatten the dough down. They won't spread much.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until they are just set and beginning to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.