We have a newly gluten-free member in our family and we are exploring all the recipe options for him. Our youngest has Alopecia, and as you can imagine, it’s not super easy to be the only bald kid in the middle school. He lost his hair when he was 8 years old in a matter of 6 weeks to Alopecia (read his story here) and has really taken it like a champ. That being said, just like anyone else, he would like his hair back.
While there is no cure for Alopecia, we heard that some people find success regrowing hair with a gluten-free diet. It doesn’t help everyone, of course, but my son is willing to try a gluten-free diet in hopes of sparking his hair follicles to do what they are designed to do – GROW HAIR!
We have no idea if going gluten-free is going to work for him, but here we are, willing to try. That being said, we have to change up his entire way of eating by eliminating gluten but not eliminating deliciousness. And how do we do that? By trial and error.
He loves a treat in his lunch and gone are the Little Debbie snacks that I used to give him (don’t judge!) and replaced by homemade gluten-free treats. This week we discovered a Gluten-Free Monster Cookie that is down right amazing! You wouldn’t know it was “gluten free” if I didn’t tell you.
GLUTEN FREE MONSTER COOKIE INGREDIENTS
For full information on ingredients and quantities, please see the recipe card below
HOW TO MAKE GLUTEN FREE MONSTER COOKIES
1. Cream the peanut butter, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla in a stand mixer until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure all ingredients are blended.
2. Add the rolled oats, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.
3. Add in the mini M&Ms and mini chocolate chips and hand stir until completely incorporated into the dough. (The dough will be thick and wet but this is what it should look like.)
4. Cover the bowl of cookie dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
6. When the dough is chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees and remove dough from refrigerator and use a medium cookie scoop to scoop the dough into balls. No need to press the cookie dough balls down. Leave them as balls.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes and edges are set. Keep remaining dough in refrigerator until ready to bake.
8. Allow baked cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.
9. Enjoy. These cookies are SO good. They can be stored in an air tight container at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the refrigerator for about a week and freeze up to 6 months.
Flourless Gluten Free Monster Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter creamy
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup gluten free oats
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup Mini M&Ms
- 1/2 cup Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Cream the peanut butter, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla in a stand mixer until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure all ingredients are blended.
- Add the rolled oats, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.
- Add in the mini M&Ms and mini chocolate chips and hand stir until completely incorporated into the dough. (The dough will be thick and wet but this is what it should look like.)
- Cover the bowl of cookie dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
- When the dough is chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees and remove dough from refrigerator and use a medium cookie scoop to scoop the dough into balls. No need to press the cookie dough balls down. Leave them as balls.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes and edges are set. Keep remaining dough in refrigerator until ready to bake.
- Allow baked cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.