Peanut butter cookies are one of my favorite desserts to keep around the house. That’s probably because I don’t just eat them for dessert; they’re also great as an afternoon snack, crumbled on top of yogurt, right before dinner when you’re feeling snackish—whenever. They’re just the right amount of sweet and nutty to satisfy.

I’m always trying different peanut butter cookies recipes to see how the texture and flavor compares. These are one of my new favorites. Once these cookies cool, they’re the thick and chewy kind. They’re perfect for filling with ice cream and making a cookie sandwich, covering in melted chocolate or filling with a little raspberry jam.

I used gluten-free all-purpose flour for these cookies and they came out perfectly. If you use a gluten-free flour I’d recommend a pre-mixed blend for the best consistency. Your cookies should be rollable when all the ingredients are mixed but if the batter is still too thick you can add milk by the Tablespoon until it softens up.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 18 cookies):

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour OR 1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 3/4 cup cane sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon well.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the remaining ingredients until they make a homogenous liquid.
4. Mix the wet ingredients in with the dry until it forms a uniform dough.
5. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place them on a lined baking tray.
6. Press down on each ball lightly with the tongs of a fork in a criss-cross pattern on top.
7. Bake for 18 minutes until the center of the cookies are firm and the outsides are golden.
8. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before moving.
9. Store in a sealed container at room temperature.

If there’s one thing I could make with my eyes closed, it’s brownies. I think my 6th sense is knowing when brownies are done in the oven without a timer. I can tell this is another brownie recipe I’ll come back to time and time again.

One commenter mentioned that she uses oat flour in recipes that call for almond flour regularly and I wanted to try that for myself with my almond flour brownies recipe. Almond flour is a great gluten and grain-free baking flour but I don’t always keep it handy.

This recipe is basically the same as for almond flour brownies except with a little bit of water added to account for the grains. The brownies came out perfectly moist and chewy. I think the grains made them taste a little bit more like regular brownies than their almond counterpart. They were also slightly cakier than the almond flour brownies but still completely enjoyable for fudgy brownie lovers. Overall these were definitely a winner.

You don’t need to go out and buy a bag of oat flour for this recipe; you can make 3/4 cup oat flour by grinding 1 cup of rolled oats in a food processor or high-speed blender until it’s finely ground. If it’s big enough, you can even use the processor as a mixing bowl and blend the ingredients right in there instead of dirtying more dishes.

Oat Flour Brownies

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 8 x 8 pan):

• 3/4 cup oat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules(optional)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 7oz semisweet or bittersweet baking chocolate, divided OR 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup water

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together the oat flour, salt, cocoa powder, and baking powder and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, melt together 4 ounces of chocolate or a scant 1/2 cup chocolate chips with the butter.
4. While the chocolate is melting, beat together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, water, and coffee granules if using.
5. Slowly pour the melted chocolate and butter into the egg/sugar mixture while whisking until fully incorporated. Don’t go too fast so that the raw eggs don’t cook upon contact.
6. Add the chocolate mixture in with the dry ingredients and mix completely.
7. Pour the batter in a greased 8 x 8 pan.
8. Sprinkle the top with the remaining chocolate and gently press it into the batter.
9. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean. Let these cool completely before cutting in.