Austin to Boston Food Swap package & gluten free vegan cookie recipe!

Last month I signed up for the Austin to Boston Food Swap. The idea of getting a package of fun foodie gifts from the Austin area was too good to pass up, and being so into local and seasonal food I thought putting together my own package wouldn't be too hard.
I was paired with the incredibly sweet and fun Jess over at forgiving martha! After making initial contact with Jess via email and praising my love of bacon, cheese, and baked goods I headed over to her blog and found that she has celiac's and it's primarily vegan dishes. This through a wrench in some of my plans, but ultimately I stayed positive and decided I would do the best I could to included a variety of gluten free & vegan items in her package including homemade cookies, because I love a challenge!
Here's a look, followed by a rundown of what I sent Jess, including a recipe for great gluten free-vegan peanut butter cookies!

contents of Jess' food swap package

As i've been preparing for the dark days challenge, I decided that my package should contain as many locally sourced items as possible. I ended up including:

Maple Syrup from Cook's Farm & Bakery. Birdwatcher's Blend Coffee from Dean's Beans. Popcorn Cobs from Enterprise Farm. Chipotle Chili Chocolate Mexicano discs from Taza Chocolate. Dried marjoram, rosemary, & sage that Gail & I grew at our garden. Pineapple Salsa and Plum/Spiced Port Jam that we canned, and a batch of gluten free-vegan peanut butter cookies!

When I decided I would be attempting to bake something that was both gluten free and vegan I knew I would need some guidance. I immediately sought out my good friend, fellow blogger, and personal chef Sharon Shiner! Her website Thyme to Cook and her blog are both linked on the righthand sidebar. 

Reaching out to Sharon was the right choice as she immediately replied to my request for a ideas with a great recipe that had her stamp of approval. 

The recipe is from Terry Walters eating guide/cookbook Clean Foods! Thanks to a 3-way twitter exchange between Sharon, Terry, and myself Terry has given me permission to share the recipe here, so a huge thanks goes out to her for this great recipe which calls for gluten free teff flour, maple syrup, and peanut butter!

Gluten Free-Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

from Clean Foods by Terry Walters 

1.5 cups teff flour

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup chunky natural peanut butter

1 cup maple syrup 

1/2 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 F

Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another. Pour wet over dry and blend until just combined - do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chips.

Linke cookie sheet with parchment. Drop batter by heaping teaspoons onto cookie sheet. LEave cokie free form or press down in crisscross pattern with the tines of a fork.

Place in oven and bake for 13 minutes or until lightly browned. The key to these cookies is to not over bake them. 

Remove from oven and place directly on wire rack to cool. Yields about 20 cookies.

I hope Jess enjoys the items as much as I enjoyed putting the package together!!

I can't wait to see what she has in store for me!