Amazing Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies {Dairy-Free + Egg-Free}}
Yield: 36cookies
Prep Time: 25 minutesmins
Cook Time: 12 minutesmins
Total Time: 37 minutesmins
Ingredients
2cups(200g)oats (quick oats or old-fashioned rolled oats)
1 ¼cups(178g)all-purpose flour
1teaspoon baking soda
½teaspoonsalt
1cup(255g)natural or regular peanut butter
1cup(212g)lightly packed brown sugar
½cup(106g)granulated sugar
½cup(108g)neutral-flavored oil, like grapeseed, canola or vegetable or melted coconut oil
½cup(130g)unsweetened applesauce
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1 ½cups(255g)chocolate chips or peanut butter chips (or a combo - make sure brand of chips are dairy-free, if needed)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a couple half sheet pans with parchment paper and set aside.
Add the oats to a food processor or blender and process until coarsely ground (not super fine like flour but in small pieces). Add the flour, baking soda and salt and pulse a few times to combine all the dry ingredients.
In a large bowl, stir together the peanut butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla extract.
Add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips and mix until no dry streaks remain.
Scoop dough into 2-3 tablespoon-sized portions and roll into balls. Place a few inches apart on prepared baking sheets. See note about flattening the cookies.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are set and lightly golden (but not overly brown). Don't over bake. Let the cookies rest for 1-2 minutes on the baking sheet and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Peanut Butter: I have made these cookies with natural peanut butter (Costco brand) and also with regular peanut butter (Skippy brand). The outcome of the cookies will change a bit depending on the type of peanut butter, since all brands, particularly natural vs regular differ in sweetness, consistency, salt, etc. I don't make any adjustments based on the different peanut butters I've used, but if you are using unsalted peanut butter, you may want to add another 1/4 teaspoon salt. Flattening Cookies Before Baking: if the peanut butter used is really thick, you may want to flatten the cookies slightly before baking so they don't bake up too puffy. Baking 1-2 test cookies first can help decide whether to flatten or not.