Being on the road for so long, I did eventually get over my habitual rituals for cooking and baking, and now that I’m back? Let’s just take a moment while a wide grin spreads across my face….. Ahhh… there we go.
One of the most difficult challenges I faced while travelling was finding food without wheat ingredients (hurray for gluten-intolerance! not.). Europe was surprisingly more challenging than Africa and for my final three months of adventures, I wound up eating a lot of rice cakes and caprese. But for those sweet-cravings? It was generally impossible to find gluten-free pre-packaged baked goods that actually tasted edible and/or were within a backpacker’s budget. (Let’s be real; that stuff ain’t cheap.) And so, I likely consumed a volume equal to my bodyweight in m&ms.
I wish I was kidding.
I could carry on adamantly like I’m a hardcore health-nut fitness freak out to conquer the world with a wicked diet plan of veggies and hummus and all things RAW-powered geared to make you into an unstoppable machine, but even though that’s mostly true, I also like cookies.
Alas, now I have a kitchen stocked with all the glorious fixins I’d dreamt about while my stomach grumbled in hostel beds , so the other day I decided to pull out a mixing bowl and started pitching in ingredients. I was makin’ me some of those sugary balls of delight, and you can too!
You will need:
- 1 cup rice flour
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- a pinch of cinnamon
- 1 egg (or equivalent of silken tofu if you’re vegan, but you may have to lengthen cooking time)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/4 cup water
- chocolate chips to your heart’s content (I usually toss in about 3/4 cup, sometimes more… don’t judge me)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and grab yourself a mixing bowl…
- mix rice flour, peanut butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in bowl until texture is consistent
- add egg, vanilla extract olive oil and water and mix well
- stir in chocolate chips
- spoon out on baking sheets, roughly 2 inches apart – you can flatten them with a fork if you desire
- bake for approx. 15 minutes (I rotate tray halfway for even baking in my quirky oven)
Should make 16-20 cookies depending on how big you make them and how much batter you can’t help but snack on raw.
Let cool and enjoy!
Tasty, soft, crumbly centre … yummm
Daphne likes to supervise from the across the counter on her barstool.
all for adventure 
Fantastic. I am so baking these :)
Let me know what you think when you do! :)
Writing down this recipe . Haven’t made choco-chip cookies in years , since the boys grew up . Time to pamper me .
Didn’t realize you were gluten intolerant . Does that come from your mom’s side ! There’s so much of this today . Trying to figure out a GI weakness I am experiencing , but with the list of gluten intolerant family members there are always non- Spencer family members with the history .
Enough , must write soon , trying to discover a plan to see you . I’m off soon for NM next week and back early December then to Collingwood Xmas time . That’s not so far , maybe we could meet then !?
N.
Helloooo! Another trick is using 1/4 cup melted butter instead of oil and water. Moistens it up a little more. Don’t know why I didn’t add that… Anyhoo! I don’t know if it’s genetic or not. Just developed it last year after workingworkingworking and eating a lot of bagels… It was nice when I finally figured out the cause of those crippling stomach aches before my races though :P
Looking forward to seeing you whenever we get the chance! Hopefully sooner than later, but enjoy your adventures in the meantime :)
Cheers!