Before I get to today’s recipe, how have I never used the phrase “Jane’s Addiction” on the blog before?!?! Speaking of Jane’s Addiction, I have a new one. (How’s that for a segue?) Okay, so now that I am not eating wheat and peanuts and almonds and dairy and shellfish and apples and cucumbers and basically have become one of those annoying people with too many dietary needs, I am exploring all kinds of great cookbooks for new inspiration. Nate’s cousin Amanda, who is on a low-FODMAP diet, recommended a book called The Low-FODMAP Diet for Beginners. I have already tried a few recipes and flagged about 20 more to try, and so far every recipe is a winner. Today I’m sharing one of them with you, the peanut-butter energy balls. Except I can’t eat peanuts. So I changed it to cashew butter. And made some other changes to the recipe. So actually I’m sharing a recipe for cashew energy bites and not peanut-butter energy balls. 

These cashew energy bites are not just Jane’s Addiction but Anna’s Addiction and Nate’s Addiction, too. (You’re welcome for the cool band name ideas.) They are super easy to make, pretty darn wholesome, completely plant based, gluten free, and only have 2-3 grams of sugar per bite. Seriously, these little cashew energy bites are the best. Enjoy!

Chocolate Cashew Energy Bites

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

Adapted from a recipe for Peanut-Butter Energy Balls in the book "The Low-FODMAP Diet for Beginners" by Mollie Tunitsky

Author: Jane Maynard

Serves: 20 bites

Ingredients

• 1½ cup rolled oats
• 2 generous tablespoons chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt (if you use kosher, use a little less than ¼ tsp)
• ⅔ cup cashew butter
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. In a blender or food processor, add the oats, chocolate chips, cocoa powder and sea salt. Pulse until the oats and chocolate chips have been broken down. If you like your bites chunkier, pulse less! If you want things finer, pulse more! I go for a coarsely ground mixture.
2. Combine the dry ingredients with the cashew butter, syrup and vanilla in a mixing bowl, stirring to combine thoroughly.
3. Form bites into 1 tablespoon sized balls, place on a cookie sheet, and flatten them out with wet fingers so you have nice thick discs. Refrigerate until firm and store in the refrigerator.

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In the last of my cashew butter cookie recipes, I wanted to provide a completely plant-based, vegan version. My regular cashew butter cookies and molasses cashew butter cookies both use an egg. Given my new year’s resolution, I wanted to see how these cookies would do with an egg alternative. It worked and so I definitely want to share this recipe for gluten-free vegan cashew butter cookies with you.

The vegan version of these cookies come out wonderfully, but they do in fact have a different texture than the version with eggs. The cookies come out much flatter and are a little more “wet,” if you will (i.e. they stick to your fingers a little bit when you eat them). They taste awesome, however, and the texture is delicious, so if you want a plant-based alternative, these cookies are great. (See picture below comparing the two different versions of the recipe.)

In addition, if you want to add chocolate chips, go right ahead! And if you want to molasses-ize them, use the molasses cashew butter cookie recipe and sub out the 1 egg for the ground flaxseed and water, like you see in the recipe below. As with the other two cashew butter cookie recipes, these cookies are dairy free and gluten free. Enjoy!

Vegan Cashew Butter Cookies

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Author: Jane Maynard

Serves: 12-16

Ingredients

• 1 cup cashew butter
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed (or flaxseed meal)
• 3 tablespoons hot water
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ⅛ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º F.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the ground flaxseed and hot water. Let sit for 5 minutes.
3. In a mixing bowl, add all the ingredients, including the flaxseed mixture. Stir well.
4. On a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat, drop cookie dough balls, evenly spacing them like you would chocolate chip cookies. I used a medium (2 tablespoon) cookie scoop. The dough is quite wet and the scoop makes it easy to create the cookie dough balls. If you don't have a scoop, use a spoon and wet fingers to form your dough balls.
5. Bake for approximately 11-15 minutes, or until the cookies are starting to brown lightly around the edges. They will look cooked, if you know what I mean - if there is cracking, the cookies should no longer look wet inside. (See pictures as a guide.)
6. Let cool at least 10 minutes before eating.

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This week is the parade of cashew butter cookie recipes! Once I figured out how to make a really good gluten-free cashew butter cookie, I had to start experimenting. The result was the recipe below for gluten-free molasses cashew butter cookies. These cookies are wonderful. Yes, they would be perfect for the holidays, but honestly I love them any time of year, especially with a nice cup of coffee or tea.  

When I first tried turning the cashew butter cookies into something that was reminiscent of molasses cookies or gingerbread, I wasn’t 100% sure it would work. But I’m really glad I tried because cashew butter cookies proved to be an excellent base for these spicy flavors. 

Next up in the parade of cashew butter cookies will be a vegan version. And don’t forget the original recipe, which is especially tasty with chocolate chips! 

Gluten-Free Molasses Cashew Butter Cookies

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Author: Jane Maynard

Serves: 12-16

Ingredients

• 1 cup cashew butter
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ⅛ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
• Granulated Sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º F.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg then add all the other ingredients. Stir well.
3. On a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat, drop cookie dough balls, evenly spacing them like you would in other cookie recipes. I used a medium (2 tablespoon) cookie scoop. The dough is quite wet and the scoop makes it easy to create the cookie dough balls. If you don't have a scoop, use a spoon and wet fingers to form your dough balls.
4. Once the dough balls are on the cookie sheet, with wet hands, gently press each dough ball down a bit so they are a bit more disc like, rather than balls. Sprinkle each dough ball with granulated sugar, gently pressing the sugar into the dough.
5. Bake for approximately 11-15 minutes, or until the cookies look set, with some cracking. If you peek in the cracks, the cookies should no longer look wet inside. (See pictures as a guide for what they should look like.)
6. Let cool at least 10 minutes before eating.

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I’ve known I have a peanut allergy for nearly 20 years but only recently discovered I also have a wheat allergy {cue sad music}. I’ve tried making my favorite chocolate chip cookies with gluten-free flour, but they just are not the same. Last December when my daughter Cate’s cello group was out wassailing with their cellos (yes, really, and it was awesome), one of the houses served us dairy-free, gluten-free cashew butter cookies. The cookies were divine, so first thing I did the next day was start researching gluten-free cashew butter cookie recipes. 

The result of all my researching and testing is today’s recipe for gluten-free cashew butter cookies with chocolate chips. In addition to this recipe, I will also be sharing a vegan version and a molasses version. I’m basically a cashew butter cookie junkie now. 

This recipe for gluten-free cashew butter cookies has chocolate chips, but they could easily be made without the chocolate. Sans chocolate would make for a reallllly good cookie. That said, these are excellent with some chocolate thrown in. In addition, if you are like me and finding yourself allergic to peanuts but really missing peanut blossom cookies, this recipe would be a great alternative and I know “cashew blossoms” would be just as tasty as the original. Maybe more so, Nate and I find we like these cashew butter cookies than peanut butter cookies, actually. With all the great new options that gluten-free cashew butter cookies have provided, I can truly say I’m not missing wheat-based cookies any more. It’s a miracle!

And, yes, the texture is like an actual cookie. And, no, there is no flour. And yes, it’s pure magic.

Gluten-Free Cashew Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Author: Jane Maynard

Serves: 12-16

Ingredients

• 1 cup cashew butter (other nut butters like peanut and almond would work in this recipe as well)
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ⅛ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
• ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º F.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg then add all the other ingredients. Stir well.
3. On a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat, drop cookie dough balls, evenly spacing them like you would chocolate chip cookies. I used a medium (2 tablespoon) cookie scoop. The dough is quite wet and the scoop makes it easy to create the cookie dough balls. If you don't have a scoop, use a spoon and wet fingers to form your dough balls.
4. Once the dough balls are on the cookie sheet, with wet hands, gently press each dough ball down a bit so they are a bit more disc like, rather than balls. This will make for a nicer shaped cookie in the end, although this step is not critical to the success of the recipe.
5. Bake for approximately 11-15 minutes, or until the cookies are starting to brown lightly around the edges. They will look cooked, if you know what I mean - if there is cracking, the cookies should no longer look wet inside. (See pictures as a guide.)
6. Let cool at least 10 minutes before eating.

Notes

To make "Cashew Blossoms" (a peanut-free alternative to Peanut Blossoms), Once you place the dough balls on the cookie sheet and press them down a bit, sprinkle generously with granulated sugar. Bake as directed. When the cookies come out of the oven, press a Hershey kiss into the center of each cookie.

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A few weeks ago, the team from Big G Cereals at General Mills sent a cute football-themed package, complete with Rice Chex and ingredients to make treats for Super Bowl Sunday. I recently learned I have a wheat allergy, which means I can no longer partake of all the delicious baked goods I normally make. As a result, I’m now on the lookout for great wheat-free desserts to try to soothe my wheat-free sorrows. When Nate saw the Chex package, he was like “You should make those scotcheroo bar things.” And I was like, “Remember, I’m allergic to peanuts, too?” UGH. Can I eat nothing??? But then I had a thought: cashew butter. And thus Casheweroos were born! And, while casheweroo is fun to say, it’s super hard to spell, so you can also just call these babies cashew rice Chex treats with sea salt, which is kind of a mouthful, too, actually. I’m apparently really good at naming things.

Cashew rice Chex treats are a lot like scotcheroos, except you use cashew butter instead of peanut butter and you sprinkle the top with coarse sea salt to make them extra tasty. Cashew butter is a bit more expensive than peanut butter, but it’s worth it. These treats taste awesome, similar to scotcheroos but without an overpowering peanut flavor, which some people don’t love. This recipe is perfect for people with peanut and/or wheat allergies, too!

For the topping I used one bag of chocolate chips. If you want a thicker chocolate layer on top, feel free to double that amount or do a combo of one bag of semisweet chocolate chips with one bag of butterscotch chocolate chips (which will taste more like scotcheroos). No matter how you decide to do the topping on these cashew rice Chex treats, I promise it will taste delicious!

Also, if you are making these for Super Bowl Sunday, you can turn the treats into little footballs with a bit of white frosting. Just buy the frosting in a tube to keep it super simple and fast and draw lines on top of each treat like so. Thanks for the great idea, General Mills!

Without further ado I give you Casheweroos!

Casheweroos: Cashew Rice Chex Treats (Gluten-Free, Peanut-Free)

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

 

These casheweroos are inspired by scotcheroos, that classic treat recipe that uses peanut butter. With no wheat or peanuts to be seen, this recipe is great for people with those allergies.

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 18

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup corn syrup (light or dark, doesn't matter)
• 1 cup salted cashew butter
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt (if your cashew butter is unsalted, use ½ teaspoon salt instead)
• 8 cups Rice Chex
• 1 12-ounce package good quality semisweet chocolate chips (like Ghirardelli or Guittard)*
• Coarse sea salt

Instructions

1. Butter a 9" x 13" baking pan and set aside.
2. Add Rice Chex to a large mixing bowl and set aside.
3. Mix the sugar and corn syrup together in a large pot. Cook over medium heat until sugars are melted together. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
4. Add the cashew butter and ¼ teaspoon salt to the pot and stir until well mixed.
5. Pour sugar-cashew butter mixture over the cereal in the mixing bowl and stir until well and evenly coated.
6. Pour cereal mixture into the baking pan and press firmly and evenly into the pan. Getting your hands wet with water helps with the process so the treats don't stick to your fingers as you press.
7. Place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Cook chocolate chips on high for 30 seconds at a time, stirring at each 30-second interval, cooking until chips are fully melted.
8. Pour chocolate over the top of the Chex bars, spreading evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle coarse sea salt evenly over the top.
9. Place in fridge until chocolate hardens, about 30 minutes. Remove from fridge and store at room temperature, covered.
10. It is much easier to cut the bars if you remove them from the pan and place on a cutting board. Using a knife, cut all around the edge of the pan then carefully lift the treats out of the pan onto the cutting board. Cut into 6 rows by 3 rows.

Notes

Optional: If you want a thicker chocolate topping, use two bags of chocolate chips. If you want the topping to taste more like the original scotcheroo treat that inspired this recipe, use one bag of chocolate chips and one bag of butterscotch chips.

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