Mud Cookies ... a (delicious, decadent) blast from the past

I've been eating these all week … so I deserved a treat!

I have been getting back on track the past week, after over a year of on again, off again that has taken a toll on my health and caused me to gain back 20+ pounds of the 127 I had lost. But that's OK. It's a marathon, not a sprint. And I know what I need to do. I have just, up until the past week or so, felt powerless to do so. Depression … complicated grief, life, etc. have taken its toll, but, thankfully, this week I am doing better. I see the light at the end of this tunnel.

So the past week has been full of chopped salads, air fried potatoes, veggies and hummus, rice cakes and tzatziki and fresh fruit. Up until last night. While my cravings for sugar and fat have subsided, measurably, from previous weeks (thanks, I'm sure, to the whole food, plant based, no oil, way of eating I have returned to) I did find myself wanting something chocolate. I wouldn't really call it a craving. It was something I think I could have resisted with some fruit, but I was feeling inventive and decided to try and make something yummy and chocolate that was still compatible with a WFPBNO way of eating.

A childhood favorite, now veganized!

And I did it! I have perfected the vegan, low fat mud cookie!  And while the name might not sound particularly appetizing, let me assure you they are (were!) delicious! I think these were actually called chocolate drop quickies in my mom's 1960s Betty Crocker cookbook. However, when I was growing up, we called them mud cookies. I have scaled the recipe back, omitted the butter it called for, opted for a plant based milk and replaced peanut butter with a defatted peanut flour. I couldn't get around the sugar … at least not yet. I'll continue to work on it … enjoying delicious, decadent, plant based cookies (every once in a while) until I do. While I wouldn't consider these healthy, by any stretch, this recipe tastes and has a mouth feel identical to the original  …if not better. They took me back to my childhood and it was a nice trip.

Mud Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cane sugar

3 tbsp almond milk

3 tbsp PB2 (or other defatted peanut flour)

1 tbsp cocoa

1/4 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup quick oats (possibly a little more)

1. Whisk 1st four ingredients together in a small saucepan. I used a one quart saucepan.

2.  Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat and boil two minutes.

3.  Remove from heat. Add vanilla and oats and stir quickly to combine. Check if any more oats are needed at this point to make sure they are "setting up." I had to add just a little more, but didn't measure the additional.

4.  Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper or a silicone mat. Allow to set up and enjoy! (I actually put mine in the freezer to set up faster.)