no-bake peanut butter cookies
Actual name: Peanut Blobbies. I made the post title "descriptive" (aka boring) in recognition that people probably search for cookie recipes rather than blobby recipes. By any name, these are a pretty delish way to get sweet peanut buttery goodness into your belly quickly and without dealing with the oven in this gloriously intense summer heat.
As is likely apparent from other VLGL recipes, I really love nut butter. And to me, peanut butter is Queen; it's the most decadent, the cheapest, and the most-treatlike of nut butters, at least to my taste buds. (Though botanically speaking, peanuts are actually legumes.)
Truly, I just got back from a long business trip in Turkey, and when a sweet friend asked if I was loving it, I replied that I was... though I did miss my cats and peanut butter.
Yep. Same sentence as my greatly-adored animal companions; that's how I really feel about peanut butter. It's probably the best thing about US food culture.
(And by the way, I am very jet lagged, so apologies for typos/general strangeness in this post.)
The formula for these blobbies was inspired by the peanut butter achievements of two gorgeous women I admire greatly: my sweet mother-in-law and Alicia Silverstone.
My mother-in-law makes these heavenly treats that go by the name of "Peanut Butter Things." I would not dare attempt them on my own, because I know that they would not come out as magically perfect as when she (or my husband) makes them. (And if I did, I certainly would not presume to give away the recipe!) Peanut Butter Things are crunchy, sweet, and the perfect stress-relieving comfort food.
As for Alicia Silverstone, any 90's kid knows her as Cher. However, her lifestyle and cookbook, The Kind Diet (purchase link on the right of her blog) was one of the most potent influences in my plant-based compassion journey. Her recipe for Crispy Peanut Butter Treats is my second-favorite in the book (the first being her peanut butter cups, of course!), and it is so simple and delicious; crispy rice cereal, brown rice syrup, peanut butter, and a few other ingredients for sweet, crunchy, peanut-buttery goodness.
Unfortunately, crispy rice cereal has a very high glycemic load and brown rice syrup likely does as well, but I was craving the peanut-buttery-crunch that these sweet treats bring...
...so I used peanuts! Hooray for obvious, low-glycemic crunch-solutions.
The final product is somewhere between cookie, cookie dough, and those really good Clif bars that actually have way more sugar than a candy bar (hence why they're so good.)
As a final note, this is one of the instances where agave nectar, as opposed to stevia, is necessary to produce these blobby little cookies' yummy texture. I will state as I have before that, while delicious and indeed the one "real sugar" sweetener that doesn't make my skin angry due to its low-glycemic nature, agave nectar is a caloric, processed sweetener. It is not a health food, and I am not claiming it as such. However, if you are not a fructophobe, I encourage you to make these little blobbies right now and enjoy the fact that they are quite healthy for the peanut butter lover's soul.
RECIPE: No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies
(a.k.a. Peanut Blobbies)
makes 20-22 blobbies, depending on how much "dough" you eat
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 1/2 cups chunky peanut butter
- 1 cup shelled, roasted peanuts
- 1 cup dark agave nectar
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (increase by a pinch or two if you aren't using pre-salted peanuts)
METHOD:
- Line a large plate or tray (big but will still fit in your fridge) with parchment paper.
- In a small saucepan, warm the coconut oil over medium heat until completely melted.
- Mix in the peanut butter, agave nectar, vanilla, and salt until just combined.
- Remove from heat. Mix in the peanuts and stir until the peanuts are completely coated with the mixture.
- Form approximately 1 1/2 tablespoon scoops into "cookie" shapes with your hands. Place on the parchment paper. Let chill in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes, or until firm.
Serve with love.
☼ VLGL
