Raw Epicurean

Three years have nearly gone by since the last time I’ve indulged in peanut butter sandwich cookies. That might be a little too long and justifies an excuse to whipped up a batch. Ha, any excuse for a sweet treat, right.

The cookie dough is made with sprouted quinoa and raw peanuts that have been processed into butter. The cookies alone have a subtle peanut taste, so to heighten the peanut flavor and make the sandwich, I add raw peanut butter between two cookies. These peanut butter sandwich cookies are yummy and filling, so one, or two, will satisfy a cookie craving.

You can either use store bought peanut butter, ideally organic, or make your own homemade. Making peanut butter is easy. Add a 2-3 cups of peanuts to a food processor. Process until the peanuts break down and within minutes you’ll have fresh homemade peanut butter. You can leave the peanut butter plain or add sweetener and/or salt to taste. Raw peanuts are a very good source of monounsaturated fats, rich in oleic acid [the healthful fat found in olive oil], as well as a good source of antioxidants. Put the peanut butter in a jar or container with tight fitted lid and store in the refrigerator.

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

If you are allergic to peanuts, almonds or cashews would be a nice substitute. If you are allergic to all nuts, I’m sure sunflower or hemp seeds would be just as nice.

In a food processor, process sprouted quinoa, salt and lecithin into a powder. [Note: I like to dehydrate the sprouted quinoa until it's dry. If the sprouted quinoa still contains a bit of moisture, the quinoa, salt, and lecithin will process into a dough-like mass.] Place the quinoa mixture into a bowl. Set aside.

Using the same food processor, add the peanuts and process into peanut butter. Add the agave and vanilla, and continue to process until combined. Then add the quinoa mixture/dough to the peanut butter in the food processor and process until the mixtures combine and forms into a ball.

Freeze dough for an hour. Take a rolling pin and roll out dough and shape cookies into desired shapes. Dehydrate for 4-5 hours turn and continue dehydrating for 4-5 hours or until cookies reach the consistency you prefer.

NOTE: At room temperature the dough is not easy to manage, it is sticky and not so easy to handle. It will stick to your fingers. Freezing the dough at least an hour makes it much more manageable. Flatten the dough on a wooden cutting board. Leave the dough on the cutting board and place the board with the dough in the freezer for a half-hour to an hour.

After a half-hour or so, place the cutting board on the counter, and working with a rolling pin flatten the dough to the desired thickness. Shape the cookies using a cookie cutter. Use a spatula to lift, remove, and transfer each cookie from the cutting board to the dehydrator tray.

Flattening the dough on the cutting board was a technique that made it effortless to roll the dough, especially if you want to make fairly thin cookies. Placing a cutting board in your freezer may or may not be a practical step for you. It would depend on how much space you have in your freeze.

Makes [depending on size] about 17 – 24 individual cookies or 8 – 10 sandwich cookies