Peanut butter cookies made without the butter. (Donna Currie, Courtesy photo)
Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

11/2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats

Directions: Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the sugars, oil and peanut butter together. Add the egg and beat well.

In a separate bowl, combine the salt, baking powder, pastry flour, and oats. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until well combined.

Using a small scoop or spoon, form small balls from the dough. Place them on the baking sheets and flatten them with the palm of your hand or the bottom of a glass to about half-inch thick.

Bake until the cookies are just beginning to brown, about 14 minutes.

Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool completely on a rack.

It seems like everywhere you turn, there's someone looking for traditional recipes that excludes traditional ingredients. Recently, someone posed the question of whether it would be possible to make cookies with oil instead of butter.

The answer is maybe. It depends on the cookie. Shortbreads would be difficult because they rely so much on the properties of butter. But these peanut butter cookies work perfectly well with oil.

The oil you use is going to change the flavor of the cookies, so keep that in mind. A mild-flavored oil won't add much additional flavor, but peanut or other nut oils will enhance the nutty flavor. Olive oil is a good choice for its health benefits, and will add its own characteristic flavor.

To ramp up the health benefits, these cookies also include whole-wheat flour and rolled oats. They're not exactly health food, but they're better for you than most traditional cookies. And my taste testers loved them.

If you prefer creamy peanut butter instead of crunchy, you can use that instead. If you want even more crunch, toss in a hand full of peanuts or other nuts.

For more recipes, see Donna's cooking blog, Cookistry, at http://cookistry.blogspot.com. Follow her on Twitter at @dbcurrie and @cookistry.