These cookies are for Hope. You know those friends who, even after years of losing track of each other, you fall back into friendship with so easily it’s like coming home? Hope is one of those friends. We hadn’t even seen each other since high school, back when we were both feeling a bit stuck in a rut in tiny Oregon towns, finding our outlet in community theater productions (I think we met on the set of West Side Story, so many years ago) and figuring out who we were. Fast forward nearly ten years and after watching her lay a foundation in actually writing, singing, and producing her own music, all while juggling life in LA (a HUGE change from rural southern Oregon), we finally reconnected over one of the BEST vegan + gluten free meals I’ve had in a while (check out Cafe Gratitude if you live in the area! And it was marvelous. It was as if we picked off exactly where we’d left off, except we’d both grown into the people we’d always wanted to be and now got to celebrate our successes, our hopes, our struggles, and our dreams – many of which were coming true.
By the time I post this, Hope *should* be about to receive a box of these very cookies in the mail (thank you USPS!!), which I specially developed for her because, as luck would have it, we also love the same flavor combos (pb + chocolate for the WIN). I’ll also be working on an epic trans pride layer cake in the next few weeks in Hope’s honor, but in lieu of actually being able to ship her a massive cake in the mail (someday we’ll figure out how people do that), these cookies are a stand in! And to make it super abundantly clear, Sisters Sans Gluten is staunchly and adamantly pro-trans. We know that it’s on us to educate ourselves about the struggle our trans sisters and brothers and friends have gone through and face every day, and we highly recommend watching “Disclosure” (on Netflix and other platforms!), a documentary that is heartbreakingly frank and sincere about the pain that stereotypes and cruel imagery in media inflict on trans people.
It is important for all of us to continue highlighting the violence and aggression trans people experience every day – trans people are murdered at a horrific rate in the US, and most likely, in most other countries, and black trans folx at an even higher rate – which is why we keep using both #translivesmatter and #blacktranslivesmatter. We have a lot of work and protecting to do, and it starts with simple conversations, protesting, calling representatives, and ensuring that you are always there to step in between a potential aggressor and a trans friend. The Okra Project is a great org to support if you’re looking for ways to help, or any one of many other organizations like these listed here.
If you’re hoping to host a virtual bake sale to raise money for any of these orgs, consider making these stellar fugdey cookies, or maybe our oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, or out nutter butter look alikes, or our chocolate hazelnut cookies!
Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Mud Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie sheets
- Parchment paper
- Piping bags or ziplock bags
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 5 large egg whites
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 Cup light cocoa powder (not dutched)
- 3 Cups sifted powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 1 Cup chocolate chips
- 3/4 Cup chopped roasted peanuts
For the peanut butter buttercream:
- 1/2 Cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 Cup salted butter room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Cup sifted powdered sugar
For the chocolate buttercream:
- 1 Cup salted butter room temperature
- 1/2 Cup light cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Cup sifted powdered sugar
Instructions
- First, make your cookies! Preheat the oven to 350° F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Grease the parchment with cooking spray and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg whites and vanilla until combined and frothy. Then, in a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, sifted powdered sugar, salt, and espresso powder. Pour the egg whites and vanilla into the dry ingredients and stir together with a spatula or wooden spoon – it will seem very dry but keep stirring until it's thick and glossy. Add in your chopped roasted peanuts and your chocolate chips and stir to combine. Then scoop out tablespoons of the cookie dough and place mounds on your cookie sheet (should fit about 12 per sheet).
- Important step! Let these dough mounds sit for 30 minutes before baking! If you do not let your cookies sit, they will spread way too thin and not be usable for sandwiching. Once the cookie dough mounds have sat for 30 minutes at room temperature, bake for 10-11 minutes, then remove and let cool completely before filling.
- While the cookies are cooling, make your buttercreams. In a medium bowl, make your peanut butter buttercream. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and continue to beat until combined. Scoop buttercream into a pastry bag (either with a large round tip or just cut off a half-inch opening in the bag to pipe. Similarly, in a medium bowl, make your chocolate buttercream. Beat the butter, cocoa powder, vanilla, and powdered sugar until smooth, then scoop into a pastry bag and prepare the same way as the peanut butter.
- Once cookies are cool, flip over and pipe peanut butter and chocolate buttercreams onto half of the flipped over cookies (we piped a chocolate dot in the center and a peanut butter ring around that, do it however you like!), then pair the filled halves with the empty cookie halves to create sandwiches. Press down gently to fit the cookie halves together and then serve!
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cookies!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
6 Comments
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Angela
These cookies are HEAVEN manifested in chocolately, peanut buttery form. So so yummy and decadent. The cookies have that thin crispiness of a well-made brownie top while the peanut butter cream was light and fluffy. Loved the added crunch of the peanuts as well. I gave a few away to neighbors and friends, and everyone gave rave reviews.
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