It’s been a busy month. This blog(and cooking anything without a microwave in general) have taken a bit of a back seat. Hopefully someday soon I’ll have a more regular schedule and school off my shoulders but right now sporadic will have to do.

Thankfully you can make some pretty great things with a microwave and 5 minutes. I forgot about this recipe for almost a year and just thought of it again when I made a run to a mini-mart to stock up on chocolate and Reese’s cups. They’re probably much cheaper and more delicious than Reese’s cups. So far they’ve made a great study snack and given me something to stress eat at 2am.

This recipe is the same as the original post. I tried making it with cane sugar instead of powdered sugar because that’s what I had and—while still delicious—I think the powdered sugar has a much better texture to it. I would also try adding chopped salted peanuts on top of the chocolate if you like a little crunch.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars(adapted from Oh Baby Bars)

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 24 servings):

• 3/4 cup peanut butter, runny or no-stir
• 7 Tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 10oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

1. In a large bowl, melt 6 tablespoons of butter along with the peanut butter until completely liquid.
2. Add the powdered sugar into the peanut butter and butter mixture and beat until completely incorporated. Press the peanut butter mixture into a loaf pan or a 9 x 9 pan for smaller portions.
3. Melt the chocolate chips and remaining tablespoon of butter together and mix. Pour this over the peanut butter layer.
4. Refrigerate until the chocolate has set. Cut at room temperature into 1 x 1 square servings.

When you find a recipe that just works, you never want to stray from it. This is the third time I’ve posted about these cookies; I didn’t realize that the original recipe post is almost 2 years old until I sat down to write this one. In that time a lot of commenters have made these and enjoyed them and I hope a lot more will continue to.

I’ve tried to make other gluten-free cookie recipes in the past and ended up with a tray of flattened, cooked dough; thankfully I’ve never had a problem with these. They bake and spread just like regular chocolate chip cookies. This time I mixed some chopped pecans and walnuts into the batter. I didn’t think that they could actually get better but that proved me wrong.

I’ve now made this recipe with almond meal(finely ground almonds) and almond flour(finely ground blanched almonds) and can tell you it doesn’t make much of a difference. The ones with almond flour were a little softer as they baked and lighter in color but the end results were pretty much the same.

Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 12 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 12 cookies):

• 1 1/2 cups(6 ounces) almond flour or almond meal
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts(optional)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
3. Gradually beat the egg into the butter and sugar mixture.
4. Add the almond flour, salt, vanilla and baking soda in with the other ingredients and mix well.
5. Add in the chocolate chips and nuts if using and fold them into the batter.
6. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and press them down gently onto a non-stick baking surface.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the cookies rise and the edges have browned.
8. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool before moving. Store at room temperature in a sealed container.

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.