Once upon a time, I was one of those 4-H kids who submitted projects into the county fair. No, I didn’t raise pigs or chickens and try to show them off for blue ribbons. I was more of a ‘What’s the least poopy project I can do?’ girls. I love animals, but not enough that I wanted to scoop poop ( mad respect for those who did)! Anyway, most of my projects were along the lines of horticulture (still bad at it), photography (I took a lot of pictures of my cats), and cooking. One of my favorite and most popular entries was a batch of oatmeal cookies that I entered into the baking category at the state fair. You would have thought the recipe I used was my great grandma’s cherished recipe that she used to make at her rural farm, right? Nope! The recipe I took to the state fair and won prizes with was..out of the 4-H baking cookbook. Kind of a letdown, right? But not really, because they produced some pretty amazing oatmeal cookies that always came out just right, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I honestly hadn’t thought about that winning oatmeal cookie recipe in years, like several years, until last week. For some reason, I got a crazy craving for oatmeal cookies, and not just any oatmeal cookies, but the always reliable 4H cookies. Luckily, a quick Google search led me to the simple, but satisfying recipe I had forgotten about so long ago. I subbed in peanut butter for the insane amount of  shortening, added in an egg substitute, and voila! Next time I would probably use the brown sugar the recipe calls for instead of white sugar, but I didn’t have any this time and didn’t feel up to making my own for one batch of cookies. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did, I have a feeling they will be gone soon.
Crispy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 2 cookie sheets and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, beat together the peanut butter and brown sugar until combined. Add in the salt, baking soda, oats, granulated sugar, apple cider vinegar, vanilla, and flour and beat until throughly combined.
- Drop by the tablespoon onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until tops are lightly browned.
Arthur in the Garden! says
Yummy!
Karis says
Loving the 4-H stories! I had no idea what 4-H was until I attended the Green County Fair in Monroe.
whiskandshout says
Peanut butter is my everything and oatmeal cookies are my faves!
Jereen says
You mentioned an egg substitute in your narrative but I do not see one listed in the recipe. Did you use one? These look delicious and I can not wait to try them.
The Frosted Vegan says
Hi Jerren! I used a baking soda/apple cider vinegar combination!
Anita says
What I like about these cooky recipes is that the real baking time is short, only bake for 10-15 minutes and the great work snack is done! I am going to be so popular at work 😉
375 degrees Fahrenheit = ~ 190 degrees Celsius
dessertfortwo says
I didn’t know you were a 4-H’er! Props! 🙂
The Frosted Vegan says
Yeah girl! I did it for quite a while. It gave me a reason to learn all the usual baking, flowers, etc. : )
hippymomelizabeth says
These look so good and professional… I was at the Asian store the other day but my camera was dead so i could not take photos but at the Asian markets I shop at they have fruit powder heres a link for different one http://posharpstore.com/en-US/wong-lee-shang-watermelon-powder-22-lbs-p3961.aspx, I thought about your post the other day when shopping about watermelon. Everything can come in powder form there …have a great day.:))) I love your creativity and recipes.
The Frosted Vegan says
I had no idea! Thanks for passing this along, so fascinating!
maryea {happy healthy mama} says
Ooh it’s my favorite breakfast oatmeal in cookie form! Love it 🙂
Sonia says
Hey there, these look GREAT!!! Can I substitute the 1 c flour for a gluten-free alternative? And if we don’t have the apple cider vinegar, is there anything else we can use, or just stick to the recipe? Thanks!
The Frosted Vegan says
Hi Sonia! Thank you! I would say yes, you can substitute the flour, it should be fine. I would say stick to the apple cider vinegar, but you could try a flax egg, it may work just fine as well!
e.war says
I found these kinda dry even after I added a 1/4 cup of water at the last step, taste great tho. I’d Like to try to make them again adding more liquid and maybe with alittle squish down after dropping them on to the pan
The Frosted Vegan says
Hi Erin, thanks for letting me know! I know the type of peanut butter may alter the recipe too, so adding more liquid may help!
Cathy says
I’m not sure if I am missing something, but I followed this recipe to the letter and it only created a powdery mixture. Does the recipe call for 1/4 cup of water as mentioned in the comments above. The recipe didn’t mention that. Also my peanut butter is the kind that has to be stirred before using and it seemed a bit oily so I was worried that the dough might be too soft, but it is only powdery. Help!
The Frosted Vegan says
Oh no, I’m sorry Cathy! I tested this multiple times with the stirred peanut butter, but adding a bit of water may help the dough hold together better. Let me know how it works out!
suzannelyons says
I got the same thing as Cathy above…only a dry mixture…with a very little moisture from the pnut butter. Now I have to tinker with the recipe and since I am not a baker…not sure what is going to happen. This would be my favorite cookie if the recipe worked. I see it is an older post…maybe you can revamp it? BTW your flourless put butter cookies are a favorite of my family. Please rework this oatmeal one…Oatmeal raisin cookies are our favorite and it is very hard to find a good vegan recipe. thx
Heart of a Baker says
Hi Suzanne, Thanks for your feedback! I possibly do need to re-work this recipe, but I’m happy to have your feedback. I’m so sorry it didn’t work for you! I’m glad you love the other cookies, but it looks like these need to be re-tested! I will report back when I re-test them 🙂