Clean and Healthy PB2 Chocolate Chip Cookies

I wake up and I make myself a nice healthy breakfast, have some veggies and fruits throughout the day, a healthy lunch, lots of water, a filling and clean dinner and then BAM! It hits me.  I NEED to eat some type of dessert.  I'm not talking "Oh, I could really go for something sweet right now". I'm talking "If I don't eat a piece of cake or a cookie in 5 minutes, someone's going to die tonight".  Yes.  I can become extremely cranky if I don't get some type of dessert in my diet.  Now, this doesn't happen daily (thank God!).  But it does strike at times.  And I think I've finally learned how to cope with cravings and not ruin my entire day.  I try and make healthy alternatives to something that I want.  If it's cake I'm craving, I'll try and make a protein cake.  Brownies, same thing.  But on this particular night…it was the evil cookie.

Now if anyone knows me at all, they know there are three things I love most in this life.  God, my family and peanut butter.  Yes.  Peanut butter is in my top three.  I am not ashamed. But peanut butter is extremely high in fat and when you're trying to watch your fat intake, peanut butter is the devil.  So the best alternative to peanut butter is PB2.  If you're not familiar with PB2, it's an all natural peanut butter powder that has 85% less fat than traditional peanut butter.  You just rehydrate the powder with water. If you're a peanut butter lover, you need to try this immediately.  Seriously.  Stop reading this and go get some.  It's the best $4.50 you'll spend on a "health food".

So, with the cravings of cookies consuming on my mind, I decided to make some PB2 cookies that are made using clean ingredients.  Now, lets be honest.  Are these as good as full fat, high sugar peanut butter cookies that my mom used to make when I was a kid? Um, no.  I'm sorry.  BUT they are sweet enough, delicious, and have a peanuty flavor that will satisfy your sweet tooth while keeping you in your skinny jeans!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup oat flour ( You can make your own by grinding oatmeal in a blender or food processor until it's a fine powder)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 cup PB2 (powdered peanut butter)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 tsp. brown sugar + 1 tsp. raw sugar
• 1-2 Tbsp. chocolate chips (dark chocolate is the best option, health-wise)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients (except for chocolate chips).  Mix on low until all ingredients are combined well.  (Dough will be sticky).

Drop onto prepared baking sheet by round tablespoon sized balls.  Press the top of each cookie with a fork to make parallel lines and flattening the cookie.

Add 2-3 chocolate chips to the top of each cookie.

Bake cookies for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack.

Yields: About 12 cookies

Serving Size: 1 Cookie

Calories: 56

Fat: 1g

Carbs: 8g

Protein: 4g

Sugar: 3g

Enjoy!