Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten Free)

I have a wooonderful cookie recipe from the Ambitious Kitchen for you all! But before I share it with you, I'm going to get really opinionated for a sec.

I need to be honest here. I pretty much hate gluten free cookies. It's the truth. I have tried so so SO so so so many many many many gluten free cookie recipes. I'm unable to lie to myself and say that since I spent all this time figuring out how to make the darn cookie without white flour that it's super delicious. The good news about that is that I am not gluten intolerant so I can eat all the "regular" cookies I want (I don't mean that figuratively. I eat so many cookies). My daughter, however, was diagnosed with Celiac's disease a few years ago, and she's probably a bigger critic than I am (kids...amiright?)!

So, that being said. I've discovered the best way to know if it's going to be worth your time/ingredients or not. These cookies fall into the totally-worth-it-and-im-going-to-eat-all-of-them-before-my-daughter-gets-home category. They're not the kind that's "pretty good for a gluten free cookie." They're the kind that's "really really good, compared to any cookie." 

Ready for my secret?

 If it tells you to start subbing flours. Run away. Of course, there are decent cookies out there with a blend of other gluten free flours, but with how much each bag of those flours costs so you can use a tablespoon of one here and 1/4 C of another there, it was too much time, money and effort for a decent cookie (although usually just....gross). And in any case, if you're cutting gluten to try to be healthier and you start using gluten free flours, they're still white flour and you're probably not doing much for your diet there anyway either. So what do you look for in a recipe to make it DELICIOUS like these?

Can you take a moment and gaze into the gooey but not underdone center of that cookie with me?

You look for a recipe that just simply does not call for flour of any kind. There are ways to puff up your cookie and/or give it that yummy chewy cookie texture without using flour. Heck, these don't even use BUTTER. If it's "naturally gluten free" meaning you're not making substitutes for an otherwise "normal cookie," you will probably have a better chance at not wasting your time, money and ingredients. I feel this way about regular foods also. If it's "naturally gluten free" (meaning fruit, vegetables, rice, chicken, beef, potatoes, corn tortillas, etc.), you're going to get a better meal than trying to make a gluten free flour tortilla or gluten free rolls. The one exception I've found, though, is spaghetti noodles. Find out my favorite here!

Now, the inconsistency in my secret is that it's going to be tougher to find a gluten free  chocolate chip cookie that doesn't use any flour at all. So good luck with that. But peanut butter, nutella, chocolate, mint, etc....you'll be safe with those without using flour!

I know I mentioned these are really good. But they're also so easy to make and with such a small quantity of each ingredient. It takes me maybe 15 minutes from start to finish (I tend to drag my feet a little when I'm getting out my baking ingredients). It's so so SO perfect for the end of the chocolate chip bag that you don't know what to do with.

What you will need:

• 1 C creamy or chunky peanut butter
• 2/3 C packed dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 C rolled oats (make sure yours are absolutely gluten free if you're intolerant!)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2/3 C chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degree's
• Mix the oats and baking soda in a bowl and set aside
• In a large bowl mix the brown sugar, peanut butter, vanilla, eggs and chocolate chips one by one until mixed well
• Add in oats/baking soda and mix
• Bake for 8 minutes (don't over bake these! They'll get dry)