Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies with PBfit

These thick, chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies are full of peanut flavour, protein and fibre, making them a perfect snack to hold you over till dinner, or before bed to stave off low blood sugar headaches in the morning!

We are definitely a peanut butter loving household. Between the lot of us, we spread it on toast, make sandwiches, add it to sauces, make candy and eat it by the spoonful straight from the jar. N on the other hand prefers his peanut butter in baked goods, especially cookies. For instance, I affectionately refer to these cookies as the ones that "sealed the deal" with him, and I make them far too regularly. There have been times where there were three jars of peanut butter in the house - two for eating and one for baking. Hey, you can never have enough of it!

So, when the great folks at PBfit sent me a jar of their powdered peanut butter to try out, I was excited. I have "regular" peanut flour at home already, which is just defatted, ground peanuts, but the taste of it is nothing like the jars of Kraft we have in the pantry and when baking it can be hit-or-miss (it works really well in satay and other spicy sauces though). PBfit adds coconut palm sugar and salt to the peanut flour, meaning when it is reconstituted (they suggest a 1 tbsp PBfit + 3/4 tbsp cold water ratio) it has more of the classic flavour and texture. As a bonus, because most of the fat has been removed, I don't have to worry that the large jar will go rancid before I can get through it as long as it's stored in my pantry. A few of the other nifty benefits PBfit offers are a 90% reduction in fat and a 33% reduction in calories over traditional peanut butter, all while being vegan, gluten free and with no artificial ingredients. The concentrated legumes (yes, peanuts are a bean!) pack a decent dose of protein too: just a tablespoon of powder has 4 grams of it for only 1 gram of fat.

When picking a recipe to use, I scouted around for one that was relatively easy to "healthify", finding one that used applesauce along with the oats. I swapped the applesauce for PBfit and water, which not only bound the cookie together but make the resulting cookie less "cakey" while adding great flavour, protein and fibre. Chilling logs of the dough and slicing them thick while semi-frozen lent to the finished cookies' chew and tenderness, without letting them fall apart. You could also drop these by spoonfuls onto the cookie sheets, but bear in mind you'll need to flatten them with your fingers or a glass because they don't spread. Because I had hard workers in mind (N has a fairly active job in the essential sector, and doesn't always get a chance to eat), I tossed in a few scoops of protein powder as well.

With the addition of the PBfit and my favourite protein powder, each cookie gets a 2 gram boost of extra protein on top of the naturally occurring protein in the oats and whole wheat flour. Combined with the fibre, one of these cookies will definitely keep you satisfied without being weighed down!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies with PBfit

Makes ~28

3/4 cup vegan butter (I used Earth Balance), softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup Muscovado (or dark brown) sugar

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp PBfit powder

2 scoops Naked Rice protein powder (or your favourite unflavoured protein powder), optional

1/3 cup water

1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups quick cooking oats

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 tbsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
2. Add the PBfit, protein powder, water and vanilla, mixing well.
3. Add the oats, flour baking powder and salt, mixing to form a slightly stiff dough.
4. Shape into a log (for slicing) or a mound (for drop cookies) on a sheet of plastic wrap, wrap well and chill at least 1 hour (if slicing I suggest placing in the freezer for 30 minutes after the fridge rest).
5. Heat the oven to 375F and line cookie sheets with SilPat or parchment.
6. Drop 3 tbsp mounds of dough 1" apart on the sheets, or slice the log into 1/4-1/3" slices and space 1" apart on the sheets. Flatten mounds with your fingers or a damp glass.
7. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 15 minutes. Cool completely on the sheets.