Lauren's Ultimate Cookies

 A sweet friend sent me this recipe as a "must have" for our allergy journey. After tweaking it a little to make it work in our house with a peanut allergy it has become a staple in our home.  I couldn't agree with my friend more when she says these are packed with great things, and she doesn't mind the kids having them every day.  I encourage them often, sometimes even when we need a quick breakfast as we are running out the door.  

A few of the changes and why: I use almond butter instead of peanut butter, but I felt like that made them a little dry, so I added 1/2 cup of honey.  I swapped out the brown sugar for sucanat and lessened it to 3/4 cup.  Finally, with some controversy around xanthum gum (it being produced from wheat, soy or corn bothers me since H is allergic to 2 out of 3 possible sources) I felt safer using psyllium husks.

Let's bake!!

There are so many dry ingredients I like to gather them first, in a large bowl.  

2 cups flour

The gluten free flour mix used is 1/2 cup each oat flour and sorghum flour, 3/4 cup brown rice flour and 1/4 cup coconut flours.  (If your goal is gluten free you want to make sure all your oat products are specifically gluten free.) 

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp psyllium husks

3Tbsp shelled hemp seeds

2 Tbsp raw chia seeds

1/3 cup flax meal

 2 cups GF oats

1/2 cup oat bran

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp baking soda

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

 In a mixing bowl mix the following:

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 cup almond butter

2 tsp pure vanilla

3/4 cup sucanat

1/2 cup honey

3 eggs (egg replacer also works if needed)

1/3 cup (or a little more if needed) water

Once these are mixed well, begin adding the dry ingredients.  Be warned the mixing bowl may run over!

 Add in 1/2 bag of chocolate chips and mix a little more.

 We make these very large cookies (my friend uses an ice cream scoop.)  The batch makes about 50 cookies minus the dough you happen to snack on as you roll the cookies out. 

 After baking 17 minutes at 350* they will be done.  Once they have cooled enjoy the cookie taste and the protein boost :)