My mother in law is also trying the same diet that I am on, as she is diabetic, and has seen great results from it!   After years of not being able to get them down, she told me that her fasting blood sugar levels have dramatically dropped (even a bit lower than her doctors had given her the goal for!) just like mine have...she said she hasn't gotten that to happen for years, no matter what else she tried...so it seems to be a very good diet to be on!    You just have to be creative.

I was planning on making some garbanzo bean flour after reading many articles about it, and about how you can substitute it for regular flour in baking recipes.  I guess my mother in law must have been thinking about the same thing, because she came to my house the other day and brought me a 1 lb bag of garbanzo flour that she picked up at the grocery store!   

I have been wanting some cookies so bad, but without sugar, it's almost impossible to imagine what kind of cookies I could have without flour or sugar. I looked up "sugar free cookie recipes", only to constantly find sugar substitutes in the recipes.   No one seems to make them without any kind of sweetener at all.   And finding a cookie that uses garbanzo flour is also difficult to find.

I finally came on a recipe that does include sugar (just 2 tbsp), and flour, but I substituted garbanzo flour- and omitted the sugar.  (And I did not chill the dough.  I just cooked them right after mixing.)



Here is the recipe:

Peanut Butter Cookies

1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp. granulated sugar replacement
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Cream together margarine, peanut butter and sugar replacements. Add egg, water and vanilla, beating until fluffy. Combine flour, baking soda and baking powder in sifter and sift dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Stir to blend completely. Chill thoroughly, at least 2 hours or overnight.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheets, 2 to 3-in. apart. Press flat with the floured bottom of a small glass.

Bake at 375º F. for 12 to 15 minutes.

Yield: 42 cookies

Exchange 1 cookie: 1/3 bread
Calories 1 cookie: 34

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The dough turned out perfectly...very soft and pliable, and they looked really good as they went into the oven. Without sugar though, I had to wonder whether they would be worth eating.  

As soon as the cookies were done, I took a bite.   I wasn't totally sure what I thought.  It was like a very peanuty biscuit, or maybe a scone.   But it wasn't bad.     I soon had to go back for another cookie, and enjoyed it so much, I had a third.     I think the trick is not thinking of it as a "cookie"- don't expect it to be really sweet.   Think of it as something else, and it's delicious. 

The kids asked me if they could have one of the cookies- I said that they could, but I warned them in advance that there was no sugar in the cookies.   I figured they would hate them.   I was amazed when I heard them saying, "Yum! These are good!  Can I please have another one?"    I thought, seriously? They like a bean cookie with no sugar?   It's pretty amazing. I guess I'll make these more often.  Very good for them, AND they like them!