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Three-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Zola on

From the Fine Folks at Southern Living Magazine a feature on things you should refrigerate (but probably aren’t) popped into my inbox. I found it very interesting. Even as a food writer I was failing at some of these.

What I’ll do first up is give you their comments. Then I will make my own for each item.

Avocados

It’s no secret that avocados can be a finicky fruit. One day ripe, the next day gone—and not a spoonful of guacamole to show for it. If you’re holding onto a few avocados for weekend entertaining that aren’t quite ready, pop them into your ‘fresh produce’ drawer to slow down their cycle significantly. Conversely, if you’re ready to dive into some avocado toast before your little green friend is prepared to cooperate, leaving avocados by the kitchen window (while keeping a watchful eye!) can speed up the ripening process.

One of the things I miss from my 15 years of living in Chicago is the dependable ripe avocado. I could find one any day of the week to make that last-minute guacamole. The Hispanic population in Chicago is impressive so the city goes through a lot of avocados and the grocery store never makes you wait for a ripe one. I hate it when I have to plan what I want to eat 6 days ahead.

As a young cook, I learned that if you want to speed up the ripening of the avocados you put them in a sealed paper bag on your counter....

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Three-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

These cookies are SOOOO good. And no flour! Just be careful what peanut butter you buy and be sure to order the sweetener ahead so you are prepared to bake and eat.

Servings: Serves 15-18

Ingredients:

 

1 cup of unsweetened peanut butter*
1/2 cup of sweetener**
1 large egg

*There’s a trick here. You CANNOT use an oily peanut butter with this. You want unsweetened and emulsified (that means it’s whizzed so it stays together). FIRST option is to go to (or order from) Whole Foods. They make their house brand called 365. You want the UNSWEETENED PEANUT BUTTER SPREAD. If you cannot order or don’t have a store near you, my fall back is Skippy Natural but that definitely has sugar so you’ll have to control the number of cookies with more discipline.

**This is an easy trick too, but you have to order one of these brands. I have only once seen them in a store. They are called ZSweet or Swerve. They can be ordered from Amazon. They are not cheap but worth it. Get the granulated version. You can also order the powdered sugar if you want to make frosting for a cake or cupcakes. These both bake just like sugar. Truvia is not a good option and Splenda is not good for you.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper if you can, or lightly spray with oil.

Mix the peanut butter, sweetener, and egg until smooth. I do this with a wooden spoon. Get it all thoroughly mixed.

Drop spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. I roll them in my hands a bit to a size a little smaller than golf balls. I gently put them on the cookie sheet. This way they are perfectly round. Then I do the cross-hatch thing with a fork so they get the grid. Don’t push hard. They will sink down as they bake.

Bake for six to eight minutes. Do not over bake! These taste best when they still have some give to them. Barely browning. I call them “medium rare.” You can bake them to your taste as you choose.

For some people, there will be an aftertaste of a “coolness.” It’s the sweetener. Doesn’t bother me but some folks to notice it.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola


 

 

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