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Okay, so I’m not a completely perfect Wheat Belly disciple, or Paleo, or Grain-free, etc., but I do most of my own cooking, avoiding processed foods and weird additives and preservatives and I very rarely use straight sugar for anything.  And most importantly, to me, I do choose to avoid wheat entirely and most of the food I make and eat really does fit within Wheat Belly and Paleo standards.

That said, these do not.  (Oats, chocolate chips, maple syrup…see where I’m going here?)

I decided to play with my own blend of no-bake “cookie” one day when I didn’t feel like breaking out the almond flour and dealing with the oven/toddler dynamics in my home this summer.  As it turned out, the almond flour made it in there anyway.

I’ve always found the idea of no-bake cookies icky.  It reminds me of the vegan stuff on the shelves of health food stores, big sticky cookies made mostly of flour (even before my wheat-free days, I was skeptical of too much of the stuff, even whole wheat, and always made my cookies nut-heavy so I could feel like they had some value).  But as it turns out, these things are actually pretty yum.  And my toddler loves them.

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You can pretty much add whatever you want to them, keeping your wet and dry ingredients about the same as you substitute.  Currants are nice, nuts are awesome although not toddler-friendly, and honey is good too even if it’s too sweet for my taste.

And they whip up fast.  So fast.

Here you go:

Oaty balls*

1 cup gluten-free oats
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp mini chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life semi sweet:  dairy- nut- and soy-free)

Dump all of these into a bowl in any order.  Mix until combined.  Let sit for just a minute as it sort of gels together and becomes slightly less sticky.  Roll into firm, approximately 1″ balls.  This is not an exact science.  Then, eat and/or refrigerate.  Makes about ten, depending on what you’ve added in.

I prefer them cold, especially because of the summer heat, and because they firm up a bit.  But do what you like!

Enjoy!

*Feel free to change the name to meet your family’s needs – I said it on a whim when I first made them, but my toddler asks for Oaty Balls all the time now, so we’re stuck with it!