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.

I love that every season there seems to be new gluten-free products on the shelves. I thought I was done with oat bran years ago since gluten-free oats are hard enough on their own to find, but wouldn’t you know Bob’s Red Mill now makes those, too? I was excited to bake with them because oat bran has a finer texture in baked goods not to mention a higher fiber and nutrient content.

These cookies are just like oatmeal raisin cookies except using oat bran for a different crunch. They aren’t your soft, pillowy oatmeal cookies; since this recipe uses oil and has very little moisture in it, the cookies come out crunchy and chewy. They’re perfect for a dunk in milk or almond milk.

If you don’t have oat bran on hand, you can make oat flour instead by pulsing rolled oats in a food processor or blender. The nutrient contest isn’t quite the same but the textures are very similar. You can add in chocolate chips or any other type of mix-in but make sure not to add too many since they can make it difficult for the dough to stick together.

Oat Bran Raisin Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 18 cookies):

• 1 cup oat-bran
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour(I used gluten-free all-purpose flour)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup raisins

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oat bran, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
3. Beat in the egg and oil until the mixture forms a sticky dough.
4. Add in the raisins and fold until they’re incorporated.
5. Roll the dough into roughly 1-inch balls and place them on a non-stick baking tray flattening them slightly.
6. Bake for 14-16 minutes until the edges turn golden. Remove them from the oven and let them cool for 10-15 minutes before moving to prevent them from crumbling.
7. Store at room temperature in a sealed container when not eating.

Needless to say Girl Scout cookie season is a lot less exciting when you can’t have gluten. You feel a little bit guilty walking past the 10-year old girls trying to get you to overpay for charity while secretly wishing you could have some Thin Mints or Samoas.

Last year I made these gluten-free thin mints. After the page started being active again thanks to plenty of google searches for people looking for the same, I remembered to make them again this year. I’m not sure why it took me a whole year to make this recipe again because these are cookies I’d gladly eat any month or season.

The recipe(found here) is made with coconut flour and almond flour, so it’s grain-free as well as gluten-free. It’s not quite paleo as some commenters have pointed out because of the sugar content. But if that’s not your thing and you’re just looking for a sweet treat then this is easily for you.

Here are some other Gluten-Free Girl Scout cookie recipes from around the web I’ve been eyeing:

• Grain-Free/Gluten-Free Samoas by Elana’s Pantry
• Gluten-Free Tagalongs by Forks & Beans
• Gluten-Free/Dairy-Free Do-Si-Dos by Angela’s Kitchen

Your move, Girl Scouts

Sandwich Cookies are so much fun. They’re much better than any old cookie; you get two cookies plus a filling. What’s not to love?

My favorite sandwich cookies were always the ones shaped like a maple leaf with a maple crème filling. Sure, they probably were loaded with trans fat and gave people heart attacks but it was the 90s and no one knew about any of that yet. These remind me of those but very much grown up. The cinnamon and spice and salt enhance the sweetness of the maple syrup and the nuttiness of the almond butter and knock it out of the park.

If you want to skip making your own cookies, use a store-bought gingersnap cookie for the base to compliment the filling best.

Maple Almond Butter Sandwich Cookies

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 6 sandwich cookies):

• 12 spiced almond butter cookies
• 6 Tablespoons almond butter
• 3 1/2 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
• Scant 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Lay half of the cookies out bottom-side-up.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the almond butter, butter, maple syrup, cinnamon and salt until it’s smooth and homogenous.
3. Put about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of filling on top of each cookie.
4. Take another cookie and place it bottom-side-down on top of the filling.
5. Store at room temperature until ready to eat.

See? Much better than a cookie.