Darling Claire's Pea/Coco-nut Power Pods

     On yet another tangent--neither fiber nor travel related--here is a great (not to mention vegan and gluten free) no-bake cookie recipe I have been making.  I got the basic recipe from my good friend Claire Darling.  You can fudge the amounts one way and another and it will (probably) work just fine, but this is what I used on my second batch and they worked great. More coconut oil makes them sturdier, but I like them a little squooshier.  I imagine you could obviously use any kind of nut butter/ nut combination that sounds good or that you have handy.

Quite a few people have requested the recipe, so I thought I would just post it so it will "always" be handy if anyone wants it!


DARLING CLAIRE'S PEA/COCO-NUT-BUTTER POWER PODS:

Toast  3/4 c.  EACH raw filberts (a.k.a. Hazelnuts to folks outside of the PNW) and almonds for a few minutes in your toaster oven (a.k.a. easy oven for my Canadian cousins) or under your broiler.  Let  them cool before trying to chop them up.

Chop 1 c. of them very fine into a flour consistency. Chop the other 1/2 c. coarse like the chunks in chunky peanut butter.  I used my coffee grinder, but you can use a food processor.  Or you can buy nut flour in a natural food store and use that.

Warm to melting on medium low heat in a medium saucepan:
3/4 c. Coconut Oil
3/4 c. honey
1 c. unsweetened nut butter (I'm sure you can use regular old Peter Pan,  but I imagine they will be quite sweet)
1/2 tsp salt (if your nut butter is unsalted)(or if you just love salt)

Add:
2 C. quick oats (if you use regular or steel cut you may want to whirl them through your food processor or coffee grinder real quick like)

Stir the oats in well and let them warm up and cook a bit for about 3-4 minutes.

Then Add:
Your pre-made 1 c. nut flour and 1/2. c. chopped nuts
1 1/2 cups UNsweetened dried  coconut flakes 

As Claire said, "Basically you just want to glomb all that goo together."

I put mine into mini muffin tins lined with mini muffin tin papers, which made them very handy for sharing, not to mention super cute, but you can also just drop spoonfuls of the stuff onto parchment paper.

Let 'em cool. Eat 'em.

If you live in a hot climate and you don't over air-condition your house, you will probably need to keep them in the fridge or the coconut oil (which is what makes them solid) will be too soft and melty to hold  them together.

These are kid approved, and a really great for between meal snacks for picky or A.D.D eaters who might not get quite enough at regular meals.

P.S. I have dreams of rolling them into little balls and dipping them in melted chocolate. Let me know if you try that!  I would also love to hear about any other adaptations.

P.P.S. That's Grandma Hisrich's cake plate I have them on there.