When you start baking gluten-free, one thing you get used to is using anything for a flour-substitute. Gluten-free cereals are one of my favorites since you can use them in baked or no-bake desserts and the flavor’s always familiar.

Good ol’ fashioned corn flakes add a nice crunch and chewiness to traditional peanut butter cookies. The flavor is better than any bowl of cereal I’ve ever had.  

If you don’t have powdered sugar but still want to give these cookies a special feel to them, drizzle melted chocolate on instead.

Peanut Butter Corn Flakes Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 12 large cookies):

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cup corn flakes(I used Erewhon brand)
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and baking powder.
3. Add in the corn flakes and continue mixing until the dough forms one large ball.
4. Drop mounds of dough onto a greased baking tray(I used an ice cream scoop to form the mounds).
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes until the cookies are firm to the touch.
6. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely.
7. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

These cookies beg to be eaten with a cold glass of milk or almond milk.

I love Jessica’s blog. It was one of my favorites since I started reading food blogs and it’s never disappointed—the recipes and pictures are always great.

When Jessica posted peanut butter banana chocolate chip cookies, I couldn’t resist trying them out. There are too many flavors there that I love. 

I changed Jessica’s recipe around to make these gluten-free and vegan. I hope that’s not heresy for someone who loves butter and flour; but if it is it’s delicious heresy.

I chose brown rice for this recipe because it is soft and buttery when baked making a tasty, airy cookie. You can find brown rice flour in most grocery stores in the gluten-free section.

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies(adapted from this recipe)

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 18 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 1 dozen cookies):

• 1/2 cup banana puree
• 1/2 cup runny peanut butter
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup sugar*
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup*
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt**

*I used this to replicate the flavor of brown sugar. If you don’t have maple syrup, you can substitute 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons brown sugar and a Tablespoon of water.

**Omit if the peanut butter you’re using is salted

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine all of the ingredients together evenly into a thick batter.
3. Roll 1 ounce of dough into a ball in your hand and place it on a lined or greased baking tray.
4. Bake for 15-18 minutes until the sides are browning and the center has puffed up.
5. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely before taking them off the baking tray.

These are seriously some of the best cookies I’ve tasted. Make this recipe. Or make Jessica’s recipe. Just make some recipe.

Gluten-free baking is a crapshoot. Before I came out with a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies that looked halfway decent, I had a big tray of cookies that spread too much and wouldn’t hold together. That’s what you get for trying new recipes.

I couldn’t bring myself to throw away the crumbs since they tasted delicious, so I needed to think of a new way to use them up. Cake pops are fun and delicious but these are cookies and needed something slightly different. Why not cookie truffles?

I think the white chocolate compliments the flavors of the oatmeal, raisins, and cinnamon more than a dark or milk chocolate would, but you could use whichever is your favorite. Follow the directions and use only as much liquid as necessary.

White Chocolate Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Truffles

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 to 2 dozen soft oatmeal cookies
• 1-2 Tablespoons milk*
• 1lb white chocolate

*Depending on how fresh your cookies are, you might not need any liquid. Follow the directions and adjust accordingly.

Method:

1. Either by hand or in a food processor, mash the cookies into crumbs. If your cookies are dry, slowly add milk until the dough is moist and sticks to itself.
2. Melt the white chocolate carefully in a microwave or over a double boiler making sure not to burn it.
3. Break off cookie dough by the ounce and roll it into a ball in your hands. With a spoon, dip the truffle into the chocolate and move it around to cover all sides. Lift out of the chocolate and place on a non-stick surface.
4. Repeat until all the dough and chocolate is used up.
5. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Next time I might try adding cinnamon into the white chocolate coating; you can never have too much cinnamon.

Trader Joe’s makes the best trail mix. It’s called Tempting Trail Mix. The name really doesn’t do it justice; it won’t last long enough in your pantry to be tempting. Normally with trail mix I’ll just pick out the chocolate bits until there’s only fruit and nuts left, but not this one. It has chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, peanuts, cashews, almonds, and dried cherries. What’s not to love?

See, nothing but good.

Obviously these needed to be made into cookies to be enjoyed all the time. I mixed some of the trail mix into a super simple gluten-free peanut butter cookie batter; the peanuts and peanut butter chips in the trail mix and peanut butter in the cookie dough make for a delicious triple dose of peanuts.

I used 2 egg whites in place of the egg since I wanted to use up a container of egg whites and the cookies were slightly puffier and softer than normal and the batter was also looser to work with. I wouldn’t say one version was better than the other but I would be aware that subtle changes like that can change the end result.

Tempting Trail Mix Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 20 cookies):

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 2/3 cup cane sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup Tempting Trail Mix

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix all of the ingredients together.
3. Take off pieces of dough and roll into 1-inch balls. place the balls on a lined baking tray and flatten lightly. Repeat with all of the dough.
4. Bake for 15-17 minutes until the tops of the cookie are firm to the touch.
5. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before moving.

These came out just as good—if not better—than the trail mix. I had trouble not just eating the batter. The chocolate chips melted perfectly in the oven and had just the right bitter flavor for the lightly-sweet dough. I also can’t get enough of how easy a Silpat mat makes baking. I don’t know what took me so long getting with the times.

It’s Girl Scout cookie time again. At first I wanted to resist it; but then seeing the flood of tweets and Facebook statuses about them I knew I couldn’t and would have to give in. If the Girl Scouts ever start selling a gluten-free cookie, I’d be happy to support them; until then I guess I’ll be making my own. That feels like dangerous knowledge.

My favorite Girl Scout cookie has always been the Thin Mints. Have you ever eaten one straight out of a freezer? That’s good stuff. I also liked the lemon cream-filled shortbread cookies, but I hear they stopped making those. That doesn’t seem like a smart business plan, Girl Scouts.

 To make these I used coconut and almond flour, which are two of my favorite gluten-free flours to bake with. They also happen to be grain-free and could presumably pass as a “paleo dessert” even though that’s a bit of an oxymoron. Remember to give yourself a little extra time making these because the dough needs to chill before it can be baked.

Gluten-Free Thin Mints

Prep time: 45 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes + more to coat

Ingredients(Makes 24 cookies):

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 stick(4oz) butter, melted
• 1 bag(12oz) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract, divided

Method:

1. Sift together the almond flour, coconut flour, cocoa powder, salt, and sugar until it’s all mixed.
2. Add in the egg, butter, and 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract and mix until it forms a dough.
3. Roll the dough into a log on some parchment paper and put in the refrigerator or freezer to chill.
4. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
5. When the dough is solid, using a sharp knife, cut out cookies that are roughly 3/8-inch thick. Lay the cookies out on a baking tray(don’t worry if they’re close together since they don’t really really spread)
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
7. Remove the cookies from the oven. Let them cool until they’ve hardened.
8. Make the coating by melting the chocolate chips and mixing in the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of extract.
9. One by one, dip the cookies into the melted chocolate to coat both sides. The chocolate should be fairly runny and only coat in a small layer. If the chocolate is thicker, heat it up until it melts more.
10. Lay the cookies onto parchment paper and refrigerate to fully harden. These will keep 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

What’s your favorite Girl Scout cookie? While I love thin mints, Tagalongs are a close second. I get the sense I might have to try my hand at making those.