Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Just like our dog Ari (pictured here in the extreme close-up), I love peanut butter and oatmeal. So why not merge the two? This recipe is adapted from Vegan in Bellingham's with a few modifications.

2 cups of flour
2 cups of oats (I used a 5 grain cereal including oats, golden flax and other grains)
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup "butter" flavored shortening
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsps vanilla
1/2 cup almond milk

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the flour, oats, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix well.

In a stand mixer (or a large bowl with a handheld mixer), cream the shortening, sugars and vanilla. Mix in the almond milk. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well to form a cookie batter.

With clean hands, shape spoonful slums of dough into balls, and then flatten with your palms onto a a cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick spray. (Unlike there non-vegan counterparts, vegan cookies made with shortening, earth balance or oil do not spread as well, so it is important that you share them before baking.)

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden and crispy. If your oven is uneven, be sure to rotate the cookie sheets half way through the baking.

Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container (and share with friends :-)