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Non-Dairy Peanut Butter Cookies

Non-Dairy Peanut Butter Cookies

by | Apr 9, 2014 | Recipes

peanut butter cookies

After a week on the road, I was happy to get home Monday afternoon. Not only to sleep in my own bed and see the Man of Steel, but also to enjoy the container of dairy-free peanut butter cookies I’d tucked away in the freezer before leaving. Knowing the cookies were waiting made it much easier to turn down the dairy-laced treats offered throughout the days away from home. (So did sipping on a Strawberry Fruit Smoothie at the Cheesecake Factory while friends enjoyed the restaurant’s signature desserts.)

The secret to these perfectly delicious and dairy-free peanut butter cookies–no way would you know they contain no butter unless someone spilled the beans–is to use coconut oil instead of butter or margarine. The coconut oil lends the same texture and crisp lightness butter does. So give this version of recipe, originally found at Country at Heart Recipes, a try and leave a comment about how it worked for you.

Non-Dairy Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup coconut oil, room temperature
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350°. If using baking stones, put them in oven to heat. In mixing bowl cream shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, and eggs with an electric mixer until ingredients are fluffy. Add vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cream of tartar. Mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix well, scraping down sides as necessary.

Roll dough into walnut-sized balls. Roll in granulated white sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet or heated baking stones. Make crisscross indentation with a fork. Bake for 10 minutes until golden around the edges. Makes about 4–5 dozen. (I put 1 stone of unbaked cookies on bottom rack of oven for 5 minutes. Then I turn the stone around and place it on the top rack and put a new stone of unbaked cookies on the bottom rack. Bake for 5 more minutes, take the first stone out, move the second stone up, and place a new unbaked stone on the bottom rack, repeating the steps until all the cookies are baked.)

How Do You Milk Rice?

How Do You Milk Rice?

by | May 23, 2012 | Recipes

This dairy allergy thing is changing my life in a whole bunch of ways. Last month it made ordering from the Cheesecake Factory’s menu an adventure when I went out to supper with friends after the Accessibility Summit. It led to interesting dinner conversation that evening when someone asked, “How do you milk almonds?” followed by “How do you milk rice?” As the above photo proves, we mastered rice milking technique and caught it on camera.

During a recent visit to our daughter and new son’s house, she demonstrated the finer points of making rice milk – for those who haven’t mastered modern milking techniques – so this dairy allergy is changing the way I cook. Today’s recipe and pictures make it possible for you to milk rice, too!

Rice Milk

1/4 cup brown rice
1 quart water
(or 1 cup brown rice and 1 gallon water if you want lots of rice milk)

Combine rice and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer for a long, long time (several hours), adding water to replace what boils off, until rice is mushy like this:

Allow mixture to cool for 15 – 30 minutes. Spoon rice into a colander and process:

In necessary add water, running it through a colander until you have almost a quart of milk. (If you place a large measuring cup under the colander to catch the draining liquid, this step is much easier.)

Next, strain the liquid through unbleached muslin or cheesecloth:

Wash your hands and squeeze as much goop out as possible:

(This step is much easier if you use cheesecloth rather than muslin.)
If necessary, add enough water to make a quart.

Use rice milk as a substitute for milk when cooking. To replace buttermilk, add a tablespoon of vinegar per cup and let it sit for 20 minutes.

Rice milk is a good substitute for milk, though it doesn’t taste quite like good old cow’s milk. Anybody out there have other suggestions for milk replacement in cooking? Leave a comment!