Today was one of those grey, rainy days when you just don’t feel like doing anything.

It was too wet to go outside and too boring to spend our whole Saturday inside. I was having trouble finding the motivation to pack for our upcoming move or do any of the cleaning I’d put off all week. I was just feeling blah.

I’ve found in the past that the only cure for my rainy-day-blues is comfort food.

Peanut butter cookies were a favorite of mine as a kid. I remember my mom teaching me how to do the criss cross on top of the cookie with a fork and then letting me take a small handful of the dough to roll around and make shapes out of before eating.

Since going vegan, I’ve tried several recipes but they ended up coming out either too dry or too sweet. This one hit the mark with that warm peanut butter flavor, just a hint of salt at the edges and a perfect golden crumble.

Ingredients (Makes about 13):

1 cup Quinoa Flour (Almond Flour is okay, too)

1/4 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

1/4 cup Maple Syrup

1/2 cup Peanut Butter (Creamy or chunky)

1 tsp. Vanilla

2 tbsp. Coconut Oil (Vegan butter would also work)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Mix dry ingredients together (flour, baking soda, salt).

Blend wet ingredients (maple syrup, peanut butter, vanilla, coconut oil). If you have a mixer that can blend these together, go for it. If you are like me and your blender just can’t handle such a thing, no worries, just mix by hand until smooth. It takes a little longer but I figure the work-out I get from blending burns off at least one cookie later.

Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet mixture until combined.

Roll the badder into balls by hand and place on baking sheet, then press with a fork. Greasing the baking sheet is a personal call. I find that the  coconut oil is sufficient enough for the cookies to slip right off without adding extra oil.

Bake for 10 minutes or until edges are browned.

These cookies always taste like home and were just the thing to brighten this rainy day.

Enjoy!

(Recipe adapted from Just a Smidgen)

Author: Brenna Fischer

Editor: Emily Bartran

Photo: Author’s Own