Peanut Butter Balls

I hate bowling. I hate things I’m not good at. Like board games, for example. Folding laundry. Catching things. Anything that requires hand-eye coordination, really – hence, bowling. Somehow, no matter how hard I focus, the ball never seams to strike it’s intended target and always finds itself in the gutter, like a magnet. With a high score of 38, you can imagine my dismay as a child, growing up when bowling birthday parties were the thing to do. But when a friend suggested bowling for Austin’s twentyfifth birthday, I jumped for joy. There’s something so perfect about entering your mid twenties and celebrating just like a kid. And after I started out strong, I thought maybe a hiatus was just what I needed to get my game on point. Then I bowled gutter ball, after gutter ball, after gutter ball. Not frustrated at all and totally a good sport, I bowed out gracefully and cheered from the sidelines, a skill I’m much better at. That's the birthday boy on the left.

To celebrate, I made Austin’s favorite cookies. I’m not sure if you can call them cookies, as they’re more like giant balls of peanut butter and chocolate chips, but delicious none the less. I mean, it’s peanut butter and chocolate. So, duh it’s delicious. And they’re vegan and gluten free – meaning no egg, no flour, no butter. And there isn’t any oil or sugar either, so technically they’re good for you, if you’re like me and you’re able to convince yourself that the absence of such ingredients makes something healthy. A friend shared the recipe with him, so I’ll share it with you. I've made them a few times, and they're really simple and essentially impossible to screw up. Unless you forget about them in the oven, like I've never done before, ever. But if you do, even then they're not terrible - I've heard.

Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients.

1 ½ cups peanut butter

¾ cup maple syrup

1 ½ teaspoon raw apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract*

½ cup whole spelt flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup rolled oats (I used gluten free)

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

½ cup vegan chocolate chips (I used carob)

Directions.

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine all wet ingredients – peanut butter, maples syrup, apple cider vinegar and vanilla extract. In another bowl, combine dry ingredients – spelt flour, baking soda, rolled oats, coconut and chocolate chips. Combine both wet and dry ingredients and mix well. Scoop onto nonstick cookie sheet and form into ball shapes (mine are about the size of a beer ping pong ball). Bake at 350 for 8 – 10 minutes. Remove. Cool. 

Enjoy.

*You guys, no joke, I used homemade vanilla extract. I didn't even know such a thing existed, but it does. And my friend Sarah made it, and generously gave it to me for Christmas. You can read all about it HERE at Sarah's new blog - Extraordinary Adventures of Taste (EAT, get it?). I know, I have incredible friends.