Guys, (do you mind if I call you Guys?) – anyway GUYS I’m really excited to share this recipe with you today. My excitement comes from a combination of a lot of things, like how tasty these little guys are and how there isn’t ANY flour in them, but to be honest, the biggest reason I’m excited is that I’m shocked my baking experiment went right.

This cookie was inspired by two of my favorite bloggers’ versions of the no flour, nut-butter cookie. Sally’s Baking Addiction is one of the first blogs I began to read and she’s my go-to whenever I’m craving a baked good. What’s great about her site is she has such a range of types of recipes. Anything from simple, healthy recipes to beautiful indulgent pies and cakes, but I trust her recipes and techniques and have always loved how these creations come out. Amanda from Running With Spoon’s always inspires my healthy baking substitutions. Her recipes are filled with nutrient dense ingredients and flavors that I love, like almond butter and maple!

One of the things I love about cooking is being able to improv with my favorite ingredients/spices. I’m admittedly not that great at following instructions perfectly without deviating into my own style. For the most part this works with a lot of cooking, but baking… is a bit different. There’s a lot of chemistry and technique that has to be understood and mastered before you start just going rouge… but does that mean I master things or know what I’m doing… not really. However, I read a LOT of recipes… like a lot, which can help you understand which ingredients do what (without being an expert).

I love this very visual representation of the effects that different ingredients have on a cookie. Over the years I’ve definitely learned the importance of chilling dough, because I like a nice thick and chewy-gooey cookie. I’ve also experimented with replacing some of the butter and oil with things like yogurt, bananas, apple sauce to mixed results.

Something you’ll probably notice about my recipes is they are simple with plenty of flexibility for your own touch of inspiration. I look at them as jumping off points and inspiration for your own culinary genius. One of my all time favorite blogs, Minimalist Baker does a brilliant job at this. Their recipes are all under 10 ingredients without too many complicated steps.

I want to prove that ANYONE can find joy in fueling their bodies with simple balanced meals, and of course a little healthy baking too!

So what’s so great about these cookies? Well, they use maple syrup versus granulated sugar, there’s no flour, so they’re naturally gluten free AND they’re still incredibly fluffy because of the egg. In fact, I was expecting a much denser cookie but was pleasantly surprised by how light these were. I loved the texture crunch of the chunky peanut butter, but it could easily be made from smooth peanut butter, almond butter or your favorite nut butter. I highly recommend going with all natural nut butter, but I haven’t tried it with traditional.

Another thing I love about these cookies is that taste great even after a couple days. My mom and sister tried them after they were almost a week old and still we’re fans, not to mention they couldn’t believe there was no flour… I call that a win.

Your Turn:

• Do you prefer baking or cooking?
• Are you good at following instructions or are you a bit of an improvisor?