easy bake oven

Well, I've returned from our trip a little bumped and bruised and with a nasty case of road rash, but it was amazing and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I had a bad spill down a 13% grade hill on Denman Island as I was going a bit too fast and lost control of my bike on a patch of gravel. I ended up skidding for 3 or 4 feet on the gravel and landing head-first into a concrete embankment. Lucky for me, I wore my helmet! An ambulance ride and a trip to the hospital later, I was as good as new (almost). The next morning we continued on with our trip without losing anytime with our original plans. Vancouver Island was beautiful, as were Denman and Hornby Islands. I have to admit I wasn't that keen on the Sunshine Coast but I'm sure that is because it was raining constantly (gah, Sunshine Coast, my ass!) and the roads had little to no shoulders and very poor visibility due to all the mountainous twists and turns along the highway. Touring by bike? I'm definitely doing it again.

When we arrived back to Vancouver, we revelled in all the comforts of home and watched movies and baked cookies. I had just received the Gourmet Cookbook before I left for my trip, so I was anxious to try out a recipe and the simplicity (just 4 ingredients!) of these flourless peanut butter cookies just seemed too good to resist. I'm glad I didn't resist. Light and delicious. Just make sure that you allow them to cool in the pan for a few minutes so that they don't crumble when you remove them to wire racks. Also, for this recipe, I used half processed (Kraft) peanut butter and half of the natural kind. If you go with all natural, the cookie won't be as lightly textured.

flourless peanut butter cookies
(adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook)

1 c peanut butter
1 c white sugar
1 t baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine peanut butter and sugar with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Add the baking soda and egg and mix until well combined.

3. Drop by teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet. Use a fork to create a cross-hatch pattern on each cookie, pressing lightly. Bake for 8 - 12 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to wire rack.