Peanut Butter Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

There are times, in every household kitchen, when you are left with the bare minimum. It's usually a box of pasta with no sauce or cheese to go with, a package of ramen, some lentils or rice, and chicken bouillon cubes. But you want something sweet. You don't have much but you do have the basics to make the foundation of a cookie, flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder, salt, butter, in my case, egg replacer, and some instant oatmeal packets. You remember the articles you read on how instant oatmeal packets aren't the greatest choice to substitute in an oatmeal raisin cookie, but you are willing to defy the odds. It's not for anyone but you so if they turn out badly the trash can will have a nice companion. Without measuring you go to work. You get your bowls all ready. Mix everything together, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, fill two baking sheets and bake for 11-13 minutes. Et Voilà! A new creation you can be proud of and share with others.

I didn't have a lot of sugar to work with on this recipe so the only sugar I added was the brown sugar I had that seems to be hardening more and more each day. I just crumbled it in my hands and it went back to it's kinetic sand like texture. Below the recipe I have left substitutions and suggestions I think would be perfect for a recipe like this for the vegan, the fitness guru, or the person who just wants to spruce this recipe up and make it more fun and vibrant. I hope you all enjoy.

Here is a quick and easy recipe for Peanut Butter Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies:

Ingredients List

• 1-2 cups Flour
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
• 3 packets Instant Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Salt
• 7 Tbsp Melted Butter
• 2 Eggs/ 2 Egg Replacer Substitute from Bob's Redmill
• 1/4-1/2 cup Coconut Almond Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tbsp Crunchy Peanut Butter

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350º Fahrenheit or 177º Celsius

2. In a medium or large bowl combine your flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, instant oatmeal, ground cinnamon and salt. Mix with a spatula until combined.

3. In a separate, smaller bowl, place your butter. Microwave for 15-30 seconds or until melted.

4. Next, add your melted butter, eggs or egg replacer, almond milk, and vanilla extract and mix until all ingredients combine to form a cohesive dough. (You can set the dough in the fridge to stiffen, this will allow you to make more even portions)

5. Once combined prepare your baking sheets. You can use non-stick baking sheets, line them with parchment paper, or grease them with nonstick cooking spray.

6. With a spoon or 1 inch ice-cream scoop, place your cookie dough on the baking sheets, 1-2 inches away from each other. Recipe will make 12-24 cookies depending on the size. Mine made 15 or 16.

7. Place baking sheets in preheated oven for 11-13 minutes or until golden and cooked through. You should be able to smell them about 1-3 minutes before they are ready to be pulled from the oven.

8. Once done, pull from the oven, let cool on the baking sheets for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack or plate, whichever you have. Cool and enjoy. You can store these in an air tight container that can be left at room temperature or kept in the fridge. At room temperature they will last about 4 days, the fridge should preserve them for up to a week/week and a half (7-11 days).

**Note: You can always make substitutions, if you want to add raisins, golden or regular or dried cranberries or walnuts or almonds, add them, this recipe was done with what I had available, I would have added these also if they were in my pantry to do so. You can also add fresh, diced, Granny Smith apples to add extra flavor and crisper apples. The apples from the instant oatmeal are good by themselves, but I know fresh is always better and would take this recipe a step further. If you do add fresh apples make sure to toss them in cinnamon and white granulated sugar before adding to your mixture, this will help to draw out more flavor as well.

**Note: To make this recipe vegan replace the butter with 1/3 cup of vegetable oil. If you are unsure if your peanut butter is vegan make sure to read the ingredients list before adding to this recipe.

**Note: You can also add vanilla protein powder and make these a protein cookie that you don't have to feel as guilty about.