Cookies

Finals = cookies.

These are the two recipes that got me through last week’s finals insanity.

Nikki’s Healthy Cookies and Aunt Angie’s Soft Peanut Butter Cookies.

In the first one, I didn’t really follow the recipe.

3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm – so it isn’t solid (or alternately, olive oil)
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 – 7 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped

I didn’t have ripe bananas, so I used unripe ones. And I didn’t have almond meal, so I left it out. And I used unsweetened coco powder instead of chocolate chips. And I put in too much baking powder, so I tried to compensate with salt, and the cookies were way too salty.

Since I had run out of both honey and maple syrup the day before, I ransacked my pantry to find something I could use to sweeten this seemingly hopeless batter.

At last I found some strawberry jelly in the fridge. And then I knew –pinch-pot cookies!

The dough was very moldable, so I made them into little bowls, filled them with jelly, and sprinkled the tops with coconut.

I cooked these guys at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Perfecto!

On Tuesday of finals week, I took a study break to see Andrew Bird in concert. It was the best decision I made all week. The concert was beyond words. I seriously believe that Bird is one of the modern musical prodigies.

Fast forward to the night before my French final. There’s me, trying to memorize irregular verb stems and the difference between “C’est” and “Il est”. I’m in no sane state.

“Cookies will calm me down,” I think to myself. So I go over to my sister’s blog and find the cookies she made for me when I left for Thanksgiving. It’s a recipe that she adapted from OhSheGlows, which is a fantastic food blog that I love reading.

Auntie Angie’s Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup peanut butter (see note)
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup almond milk

I followed the recipe to a tee (in contrast to Julia, who has a series of posts labeled “Hot Mess Baking”) and the cookies came out PERFECTLY.

Baked for 11 minutes at 350F.

However, I would use less honey next time. They came out a little too sweet for my liking.