Gluten-free, Sugar-free Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

How bomb do those cookies sound? They were so delicious. It's a good thing I made them for a party otherwise this pregnant lady (and her husband) would have eaten all 30 or so cookies!

Just looking at this picture makes me want to make another batch!

So let me explain the gluten-free aspect of these cookies: I used rolled oats from Trader Joe's. They come in a huge bag and they have a recipe on the back from gluten-free cookies. I adapted my recipe from that recipe. The recipe doesn't call for any type of flour substitute, just the fresh oats themselves.

As far as the sugar-free aspect goes, these cookies are definitely still sweet and have sugar in them...the chocolate chips for instance, but I did not add the 3/4th cup of sugar or the 3/4th cup of brown sugar. Instead, I opted to use a ripe banana for the cup of sugar and genuine maple syrup for the brown sugar. Obviously both banana and maple syrup have sugar in them, but they are much better alternatives then straight cane sugar or brown sugar. I had never subbed out those ingredients before, so I had to do a little bit of research. You can substitute one banana for one cup of sugar. All you do is mash up the banana and add a little water to smooth it out. As for the maple syrup, you are suppose to subtract a 1/4 of a cup from what the recipe calls for. In this case, the recipe called for 3/4 cup of brown sugar, but 1/2 a cup of maple syrup seemed like a lot, so I just did 1/4 cup. It was plenty! Something to keep in mind is the additional liquid of maple syrup. You are suppose to cut back on the other liquids in the recipe if you sub out the brown sugar for the syrup, since obviously the syrup is a liquid. I didn't do this and it turned out fine. Better than fine really. Absolutely delicious!

Trader Joe's Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookie Recipe (with my changes in italics)
1/4 cup of butter
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup sugar (1 mashed banana with a little bit of water)
3 cups Trader Joe's Rolled Oats
3/4 cup brown sugar (1/4 cup maple syrup)
6 oz. chocolate chips
2 eggs
1/2 cup seeds or walnuts (I didn't do this since I didn't have any on hand)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a large bowl, combine sugar (banana), brown sugar (maple syrup), and butter and beat until creamy. (I should let you know that the creaminess looks different when you don't use sugar and brown sugar, but don't let that discourage you!)
Add eggs, vanilla, and baking soda and mix well. Add peanut butter and mix. (Now it should definitely look creamy).
Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and nuts.
Place teaspoon full of dough on a lightly greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 (I did 9) minutes until lightly brown around the edges. (Make sure to take the cookies out when you see the brown edges. They might not look done in the middle, but as you let them cool, they will firm up and the oats will stick together more readily!)

I only had one cookie sheet, which would have taken forever, so I also used a little mini cupcake pan (like one you might use to make mini-quiche in). I didn't know how they would bake, but they did fine and I actually preferred the size of those cookies to the ones on the cookie sheet.

Now I am serious, if you make these, be ready to either a) devour them all or b) bring them to a party. The best part is if you decide to go with option a, it is really not that bad! These cookies, as far as cookies go, are pretty good for you. Maybe even...healthy? Okay, maybe not healthy, but not terrible!