Tolerant Cookies

I know, I know, I have lots of blogging to catch up on! There is much to share, and it is all coming, I promise! Despite the NOT luxury house, we had a fabulous time in Vermont and I will share more details and photos soon. However, coming home is always hard because not only is the vacation over, but catching up and getting back to normal takes me a few days.

Anyways, front of mind first. For me, that is, as usual, food! Lately I have been having a great deal of "tummy" trouble and it seemed to get much worse over the past few weeks. In researching my problem, I found that two likely culprits are dairy and wheat. So, for a while I am going to cut both out of my diet and try to see if I do better. I have also added some digestive enzymes to my regular probiotic supplements. I am seeing some relief of my symptoms, so I will continue this for a few more days and then re-evaluate and try to slowly re-introduce the foods I have cut out. Meanwhile, the biggest challenge for me is finding a way to satisfy my need for a chocolate treat every day.

So, of course, enter google (my very best friend). I searched "wheat free dairy free desserts" and saw something about fudge and oatmeal, two of my favorite things. I knew that it was only 9 in the morning and I had lots to do today, but these were so easy that I tried them right away!

Serves: 18

Ingredients:

2/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a saucepan over medium heat combine the maple syrup, oil, cocoa and cinnamon. Boil for three minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter, rolled oats and vanilla until well blended. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto waxed paper and chill to set, about 30 minutes.

First of all, maple syrup is definitely on my list of kitchen staples. I put it in everything from salad dressing to sauces for a deep, rich, sweet taste. Oatmeal is my best friend; it has branched out from my daily breakfast to be my go to grain even before cutting out wheat. But, chocolate and peanut butter together!!!! Need I say more? (BTW, I am sure that you could substitute Sunbutter, almond butter, etc if you wanted or had a peanut allergy.)

I used reduced fat peanut butter but otherwise followed the recipe to a "T". With that substitution, each one is just about 150 calories and only 2 weight watcher points (how very Hungry Girl of me!)