Recipes, Photography, Musings

Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Bites

These little cookies hit the spot if you are looking for something sweet, yet full of protein and nutrition.  Peanut butter and oats give the cookies lots of nutrients, taste, and texture, and they are easy to eat as a satisfying snack or dessert.  These peanut butter-oatmeal bites are going so quickly around here, next time I make them I’m going to double the recipe!

peanut butter cookies 3-5With my kids’ spring sports schedules starting, I am once again looking for snacks that taste good, can be eaten quickly, and that also have nutrients to give my active kids good energy.  I am very happy with this recipe, which I adapted from one in my Dr. Cookie Cookbook by Marvin Wayne and Stephen Yarnall.  There’s just enough sweetness from the brown sugar to make the cookies taste like a treat, but enough substance to make them more than just sweet.  If you are looking for an easy, protein-rich cookie, this is a great recipe to try.

peanut butter cookies 2-1It is the very last day of March today, and I must say I am really looking forward to April!  Although it’s still chilly here, it’s such a great time to be outside, with the fresh wind, green grass, and trees and bushes budding.  The spring peepers have been peeping really loudly at night, and I love to sleep with the window cracked open so I can listen to those frogs all night long.  There is a feeling of new life and excitement in the air–I can sense it just from watching the birds in the sky.

Yesterday evening, I picked our first herb of the season–chives to chop and put on top of our macaroni and cheese.  I had forgotten how convenient and fresh it is to walk outside and snip some herbs to add to our dinner.  Soon there will be more and more things growing and blossoming, and more and more recipes to make!  In the meantime, these little peanut butter-oatmeal bites are tiding me over very nicely.

I hope you all have a great weekend! I’m going to take a plate of these cookies over to Angie’s Fiesta Friday #113, co-hosted by two bloggers whose blogs I really admire:  Sonal @ Simplyvegetarian777 and Laurie @ ten.times.tea.peanut butter cookie doughpeanut butter cookies 3-9

Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Bites

  • Servings: about 24 cookies, depending on size
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 1 large egg
  • 2/3 cup of packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup of natural peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
  • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 1 cup of unbleached, all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup of old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large mixing bowl, vigorously stir the egg, brown sugar, butter, peanut butter, and vanilla until well combined.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, and baking soda.  Add the dry ingredients to to wet ingredients, and stir until well combined.

Drop the batter by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet, about 12 cookies per baking sheet.  Bake in your 350-degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until cookies are golden.  Cool the cookies on a wire rack.  Repeat until all the cookies are baked. Enjoy!

This recipe is adapted from the Dr. Cookie Cookbook by Marvin A. Wayne and Stephen R. Yarnall.

 

14 Comments

  1. Amanda | What's Cooking

    These are just unfair. They actually combine two of my favorite favorite!! things. Peanut butter and oats. I could live on these alone. My husband keeps asking me to make those easy granola bars from a few weeks ago, but i’m resisting because even though those and these are a healthy snack, when eaten in bulk, all my hard work at the gym is for naught 🙂 What a great snack though!

    • Jenny

      Haha, I know what you mean, Amanda! They are kind of hard to stop eating. Your granola bars looked really great to me too, and I will try them next time I make them! 🙂

  2. simplyvegetarian777

    Lovely flavors going on there :). All my favorites! Thanks for sharing these at FF!

    • Jenny

      Thank you, Sonal! Thank you for co-hosting this week!

  3. cookingwithauntjuju.com

    I’m a big peanut butter fan and I have not added oats to the cookies I make – great idea 🙂

    • Jenny

      Thanks, Judi! It does make them a little more substantial, which is what we sometimes need. 🙂

  4. Lily

    I love a good peanut butter oatmeal cookie and I like that yours only has 2 tbsp of butter which makes them healthier. Thanks for sharing:)

    • Jenny

      Thanks Lily. 🙂

  5. Ruchi from Ruchiskitchen

    How lovely! Cookies looks so yum and inviting. Thanks for sharing. 🙂

    • Jenny

      Thank you, Ruchi. 🙂

  6. tentimestea

    These little round cookies look just adorable Jenny! I have to say, sweetness with a bit of substance is exactly my thing. It’s why I’d much rather have a thick slice of lightly sweetened cake instead of a small candy–it’s much more satisfying and you may as well get something out the dessert you eat 🙂
    How lovely to hear you have chives already! We’ve been having such strangely warm weather recently, but it’s all so all of a sudden that nothing has had time to grow 🙂

    • Jenny

      Thanks so much! Yes, I also enjoy sweetness with substance with my desserts. Our weather has suddenly turned very cold again, so nothing will be growing much in the next few days. Luckily, not much as budded out yet, otherwise it would be frost-bitten! Our chives are hardy enough to handle the cold, though. Thanks for co-hosting FF this week! 🙂

  7. Karen

    I like a cookie that’s more than just a sugary bite and these sound good…love the oatmeal and peanut butter combination.

    • Jenny

      Thank you, Karen! I do too, and I feel like theses cookies are nourishing as well as tasty. 🙂 Have a great day!

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