Emily's PB&J Cookies

Confession: Sometimes I crave a good PB&J, but I always crave PB&J cookies.

There’s something about the nostalgic taste of these cookies that bring me right back to my carefree childhood. The days were I could eat whatever I wanted and never even think about a calorie. These cookies are not only delicious, but with clean ingredients and a no sugar jam, I’m right back to not having to worry about my calories while I indulge. My friend Emily was kind enough to share this recipe with me back in December, and with a few tweaks, I put my own 21-day fix spin on a classic treat. Enjoy!

Emily’s PB&J Cookies:

Prep Time: 5 min Cook Time: 15 min

21-day fix guide: (for 2 cookies) 1 yellow swap, 1 purple

Ingredients:

½ cup natural peanut butter (I used Trader Joes salted peanut butter with flax and chia seeds)

½ cup nuts (I used raw almonds & raw walnuts), chopped well* 1 cup old-fashioned oats 1 ½ cups oat flour** 1/8 tsp salt ½ cup coconut oil, melted ½ cup maple syrup or raw honey (if solidified b/c of winter, melt it) 1 Package of frozen berries of choice (cherries, strawberries, blueberries, etc), thawed *hand chopped is better because you get bigger chunks of nuts and that's delicious.

**I measured out 1.5 c old fashioned oats & ground them in my coffee grinder (or food processer) until fine powder

1. Mix together nuts, oats, oat flour & salt. Stir well. 2. Add coconut oil & maple syrup or raw honey. Mix until fully incorporated. 3. Refrigerate 10 minutes minimum, until firm enough to roll into a ball in your hand (up to 2 days maximum) 4. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheets w/ parchment paper. 5. Roll dough into a ball (your hand will warm up the coconut oil as you roll). It's much easier to deal with when the oil has hardened up. When the oil is too soft, it will be hard to keep all the oats & nuts together 6. On the cookie sheet, push ball of dough down and if it cracks, press it back together so it's as tight as possible. It won't rise or spread so you can keep them tight together. They will fall apart if it's not pressed together enough. Try to make an indent on top so there's a nice little space for the jam. 7. Bake 15 minutes until golden brown. Pull out of oven. Add jam on top. Wait about 5-10 minutes for it to cool. They are a bit fragile. Transfer to cooling rack. 8. In a small sauce pan or sauté pan, over medium-high heat, cook down fruit until jam like constancy, about 10 min. let cool and then spoon onto cookies. For mine I used thawed strawberries, rhubarb, and an teaspoon of honey. yumminess!