PB2+ Cookies

Once again prevailed upon to provide cookies for a candidates' night, I set to work with two serendipitous ingredients I hadn't tried before. The discontinued rack at Carson General Store had a couple of packages of chocolate chips mixed with peanut butter chips. Normally I would have passed them right by, as they contain sugar plus fat, but I thought of cookie-baking duty and picked up a bag for $1.89, a bargain. Baking everything low-sugar, low-fat is a necessity at home, but providing verboten ingredients to the general public causes no qualms, as they would likely pass by any cookie that looked or smelled too healthy. Chocolate chips, especially premium dark chocolate varieties, aren't that high in sugar/fat in the overall scheme of things. My sister gave me a jar of PB2 mixed with "premium chocolate" (make that cocoa powder). This relatively new item is basically peanut butter minus 85% of the fat, and is supposed to be reconsituted with water before making a sandwich, etc. It also has some sugar, but little in the way of incomprehensible chemistry. The chocolate version is a peanut/cocoa low-fat Nutella-like powder. The chips inspired me to throw in a little of this powder with the complimentary flavors and see what happened. The result was better than the "Political Horse Pucky Cookies" of the previous posting, and disappeared even faster. I happen to know they were better because I split the only leftover cookie (snatched from outstretched hands) with Mom last night. Here's my recipe for PB2+ Cookies, which makes about three dozen. Start with 1 cube softened butter, and add 1 cup coconut sugar, 1/4 cup erythritol, and 1 tsp. vanilla paste (or extract). Cream together, stirring in 2 eggs. Then add 1/2 cup PB2+ powder, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1 tsp. salt, 1 cup unbleached flour (you could use gluten-free), 1/2 cup coconut flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. baking soda and 3/4 cup quick oats. Stir together with 1/2 cup milk, adding the bag of chips last, mixing until all the ingredients are incorporated. If the dough still has a few dry pockets, add a small splash of milk. Using two spoons, form 2" balls and smoosh them down a little, distributing them evenly on parchment paper on a half-sheet pan. Bake in three batches at 375 degrees for 12 minutes. Remove to a rack and cool before storing. To transport them, I put them on paper plates in layers separated by waxed paper, placed in a cake carrier. These are not guilt-free, due to the butter plus small amounts of real sugar in the powder and chips, but the coconut sugar, coconut flour and oatmeal (higher fiber)and protein of the peanut powder redeem them somewhat.