The headache finally went away. I’ve been doing the Whole Foods 28-day Challenge and the second week is going much better. The challenge requires participants to go 4 weeks without meat, dairy, oil, or refined sugar. I had a headache for the first 4 days as I detoxed from sugar and salt, but since then, I’ve been feeling pretty good.
It’s kind of incredible how good I feel, actually. I usually follow up everything I eat with a little something sweet. Whether it’s a piece of chocolate or a cookie or some candy. So for the last week and a half I’ve been reaching for fruit or nothing at all. I’ve even stopped sugaring my coffee. I’m not having sugar cravings at all. (Disclosure: I did cheat for an hour when I went to a blogger tasting at a local natural bakery. But I was working!)
And oddly, I’m not thinking about food as much. But that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped baking gluten-free treats. I love to bake, so I tried to come up with something that would work for the challenge.
I combined a couple of recipes I found online and then made it gluten-free as well. These cookies are not designed to mimic a sugary, gluten filled treat as many of my other recipes are. These are different; dense and filling and not terribly sweet. But like I said they are filling and they will help curb that sweet tooth if you’re not eating refined sugar.
Vegan Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
1/3 cup natural peanut butter
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp unsweetened soy milk
2 tbsp maple syrup or raw honey
2 ½ cups quick cooking gluten-free oatmeal (Bob’s Red Mill makes it)
1/4 cup gluten free flour (King Arthur Gluten-Free Multipurpose flour or see below*)
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon xantham gum
¼ to ½ cup dried cherries or other dried fruit
Preheat oven to 350º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Combine oatmeal, flour, cinnamon, salt, and xantham gum. Set aside. With a wooden spoon, mix the mashed banana, vanilla, soy milk, and maple syrup. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined. Mix in the cherries.
Using two spoons or a small ice cream scoop, drop cookies onto a cookie sheet. Avoid using hands because the mix will be very sticky.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
*Basic Gluten-Free Flour Mix with Brown Rice Flour
6 cups brown rice flour
2 cups potato starch
1 cup tapioca flour
Store leftover flour in an airtight container.