Everything-Free Cookies (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free, & sugar-free)

These Everything-Free Cookies are for absolutely everyone. Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Egg-free, Nut-free, and Sugar-free. You simply can't go wrong with this delicious recipe because the one thing they're not free of is FLAVOR!

I wanna talk to you about cookie dough. I'm actually in the middle of an experiment with cookie dough that I'm so excited to tell you about.

So here's the deal.

I have been recovered from extreme yo-yo dieting and the restricting/binge cycle for a little over five years now. I have accepted all foods into my life and have given myself unconditional permission to eat them when I want. No guilt. No horrible feelings about myself. No restrictive behaviors. None of it.

But here's the thing. There are still a few foods. Foods that get me down to my core.

Cookie dough is one of them. This is how I used to treat cookie dough. After weeks of eating only low-calorie "good" foods, I just couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't diet. I couldn't restrict. I needed "naughty" foods. And cookie dough was one of them. I would walk myself to the store and pick up a tube of cookie dough, a container of Pringles, 6 glazed donuts, swiss rolls, and half a gallon of ice cream. Sometimes pizza too. I'd get home as quickly as humanly possible, lock my door, and go to town.

I would eat until I was sick. I would eat until I was in physical pain. I would do this with the intent that this was the last time I would ever eat these "bad" foods ever again. This was it. I had to eat as much as possible so the craving would go away and I could go back to eating low-calorie "good" food.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a "last time" until 5 years ago when I decided enough was enough. It happened multiple times. Hundreds. This handful of foods became my signature binge foods, and I have yet to separate myself from them all completely.

Ice cream I'm good with. Pizza I'm good with. I found last week that I'm even good with Pringles.

But glazed donuts are still scary. Swiss rolls I haven't had around to find out. And cookie dough... that's where we are now.

So the experiment. I have a theory about why people binge and why people feel that they can't control themselves around certain foods. In fact, it's pretty simple.

Generally, it has to do with the fact that many foods are off-limits in today's world. They're considered bad, naughty, cheating, etc. I mean, think about it - when was the last time you overindulged on celery sticks?

So when foods are put in the off-limits category, the first thing that happens is that we automatically want them. And we want them bad. Because we're not allowed to have them.

Well, what if these foods were totally allowed? What would change? Would you want them as bad if you knew you could have them any time?

That is what I have done with cookie dough.

The other day, I went to the store and I bought 4 packages of cookie dough, in all different flavors. Not with the intention of bingeing on them. But with the intention of making them allowed. To give myself unconditional permission to eat the cookie dough whenever I please. There wouldn't be any punishment. There wouldn't be any "cheating" happening. I just wanted to make it known that cookie dough was an option for when I was craving something sweet.

Honestly, I thought I'd eat a TON of cookie dough. I thought I'd already be all out and have to go back to the store to buy more, so as to keep is always available and not considered off-limits.

Well, something must have shifted in my mind once I told myself that I could have cookie dough any time with no guilt because I've hardly had any.

The first day in the fridge, didn't touch it. The second day, I put one bite of each flavor on a plate, sat at the table with a fork, so as to treat it like a real dessert and not like an out-of-control situation like it's been in the past. I found that I only enjoyed 3 out of the 4 flavors, and even then they were only sub-par. Too artificial. Too meh. Just not fantastic as I had remembered.

So because of that, I've actually been craving REAL cookies. Cookies made from scratch with ingredients I love.

So cookies are what I've made.

I considered making my favorite plant-based chocolate chip cookies or my no-bake chocolate orange cookies (that I'm obsessed with), or those super yummy Vegan Carrot Cake Cookies. But in the end, I had to go with what was inspiring me.

I was inspired to make the Friendship Cookies from the Homemade with Love Cookbook. The author's daughter needed to bring egg-free cookies for her classmates.

But you know, I thought a little bit about this recipe, and I wanted to extend it to ALL my friends! Those who require recipes that are nut-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, or sugar-free. Girl, these cookies are everything-free cookies, and they are for everyone!

When I texted my wife telling her about everything they were free of, she asked, "Well, then where's the flavor?"

She came home from work yesterday and I couldn't wait for her to try them. She doesn't require nut, dairy, gluten, egg, or sugar restrictions, but I just knew she was going to love them, because again, they are for everyone. As she went for the container of cookies, she said, "I already know I'm not going to like them."

Uh huh... famous last words.

She has since eaten about 5 of them and can't stop raving over how flavorful and delicious they are. That's right!

And I have to say, scraping that bowl clean and getting a taste of real homemade cookie dough was exactly what I needed. It was delicious. It was guilt-free. It was totally allowed.

Allow these delicious little morsels into your life, and when they run out (because they will quickly), make more. Eventually, your mind will get the hint that they are allowed all the time and you don't have to hoard them and feel out of control around them.

I also really love these healthy flourless cookies as well! Super chocolatey and easy to throw together.

Oh maybe you're not in a cookie mood at all:
These Paleo Chocolate Cupcakes are gluten-free, grain-free, and dairy-free, so they'd be a total win as well! 
Also, I can never turn down these gooey vegan brownies no matter how hard I try, and I think you'll feel the same.

Everything-Free Cookies

4.37 from 60 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 32 minutes

Calories:

Author: Holly

Ingredients

• ▢ 3 cups oat flour (old-fashioned oats blended to a flour - use gluten free oats if you're needing to make this GF)
• ▢ 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• ▢ ½ cup coconut sugar (or other powdered sweetener of your choice)
• ▢ ¼ cup brown rice syrup (can replace with honey, pure maple syrup, or agave)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ½ cup dairy-free dark chocolate chips (I love Enjoy Life Brand)
• ▢ ½ cup dried berries (dried cherries, raisins, blueberries, etc)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
• Add the oat flour, baking soda, and salt to a medium-sized bowl and whisk to combine.
• Add the applesauce and coconut sugar to a larger bowl and beat on high with a mixer until light and creamy, 3-5 minutes.
• Add the brown rice syrup and vanilla extract. Beat on medium high speed until thoroughly mixed, 1-2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour in the dry ingredients, mixing until the dough is just combined. Refrigerate dough for 10 minutes before placing on cookie sheets.
• Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Stir in the dairy-free chocolate chips and dried berries.
• Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. You can leave them as they are or flatten them slightly, just note that they will not spread while baking, so they will stay in the shape you leave them.
• Bake until the edges are golden, 11-13 minutes. Remove the trays from the oven and let the cookies cool on the trays for 2 minutes. Using a spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Notes

makes 2 dozen cookies dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free, & sugar-free Adapted from Homemade with Love Cookbook

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