Honey Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut butter cookies are my favorite kind of cookie. David prefers oatmeal raisin any day, and up until I baked these, he was turned off to any kind of peanut butter cookies- the very smell of them baking was revolting to him. I always found that odd because he loves peanut butter on bread!

Needless to say, I haven't baked any in a while, but in an effort to reduce our costs on pre-packaged foods, I avoided buying Oreo's this time around the grocery store, and when James asked for a cookie, I knew we had the ingredients on hand for these. Boy are they delicious! David loves honey, so I think the smell of honey softened the smell of the peanut butter and the absence of the smell of egg helped too! He actually really liked these, as did James, and of course they both had a dark chocolate button pressed in the middle. Actually, James had many, including this one:

Honey Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup honey (use brown sugar instead if preferred)
1/2-3/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or earth balance/whipped spread
1 egg or flax egg (works great!)

1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Chocolate kisses or buttons, optional

Directions:

Mix sugars, honey, peanut butter, butter and egg in large bowl. Stir in dry ingredients. Place bowl in freezer until oven is preheated to 375ºF (190ºC). Shape a tablespoon or teaspoon (size is up to you) of dough into a ball and place on the sheet. Give space to spread. Using a fork dipped in flour, make a criss cross, and add a chocolate kiss or button to the middle (Toddlers love helping at this part*). Place on an un-greased baking sheet and bake for 9-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cookies will be soft until they cool, so transfer to rack (or mouth*{As well as this part}) carefully. 

Now if only the weather would cool off, I can't take many more 110ºF days! Some rain would be lovely too. Hurry up Autumn!

Vegan Autumn Pumpkin Bread

 I have loved this recipe since 2003, and though I'm not sure where it originally came from, my best guess is that it came from a dear church friend. I have it in a spiral binder handwritten on a piece of printer paper complete with arrows, stars and hearts to differentiate and guide my 17 year old self. Things were simpler, though messier, back then. :)

Who knew that such a messy recipe could yield such a yummy treat!? Never judge a book by its cover!

Vegan Autumn Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 flax eggs 

Whisk dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a larger bowl, combine pumpkin, oil, sugars, and eggs and mix well. Add flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and beat on medium high until smooth and well blended.

Grease your baking pan and bake at 350°F or 177°C for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

Flax Egg Substitute

Flax Egg Substitute

For one egg, heat 3 tablespoons of water over medium low heat and add 1 tablespoon ground or milled flax seed. You can use brown or golden flax with similar results.
Turn off heat once it bubbles and whisk. Add to recipe in place of chicken egg. 

*For half of one egg, use 1.5 tablespoons of water and 1/2 tablespoon of flax.

In my experience, this substitute has worked well in pancakes, coffee cake, muffins and brownies.

Flax is rich in dietary fiber, nutrients and minerals, lignans, and healthy Omega-3 oils. One tablespoon of milled flax seed contains up to 3800 mg of ALNA, the primary Omega-3. That is 10 times as much as most fish oil capsules without the drawbacks including the death of fish, strong fish odor, chemical residues, high cholesterol and saturated fat levels associated with fish oil.

You can learn more about how great flax at Worlds Healthiest Foods.