Whole Grain Oatmeal Peanut Butter Christmas Cookies

(for those family members visiting from Jason's email, please note that he's got my el Matador vote due to his dedication to the following and promoting of my blog. Good luck to you all and may the best man win. For the rest of my readers who have no clue what this is about, trust me, you don't want to know.)

You didn't think I was going to have all my Christmas cookies be of the unhealthy variety, did you? I mean come on, you know me better than that. I may have been oblivious to my own lack of healthy eating since the opening day of cream cheese season (which coincidentally is Thanksgiving day,) but that doesn't mean I'm not thinking of you, my healthy friends.... my friends who are built from stronger stock than myself during this time of temptation.. I know you need cookies too, and because I love you, I offer you these delicious oatmeal peanut butter cookies.

Remember those Coach's Oats samples that were sent to me? I had exactly enough left to make these cookies. They're 100% whole grain and while they're not low fat, the majority of the fat comes from the peanut butter, which is one of those good-for-you fats. Please feel free to substitute regular old-fashioned rolled oats for the Coach's Oats if they're not available in your area. And please.... enjoy these little guys with a minimal amount of guilt, OK?

Whole Grain Oatmeal Peanut Butter Christmas Cookies

2/3 cup peanut butter
4 TBSP unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 large eggs
3/4 cup oat flour
1 1/2 cup Coach's Oats (or regular old-fashioned rolled oats)
2 cups holiday M&Ms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking sheets lightly with cooking spray.

Cream the peanut butter, butter, sugar, vanilla, salt and baking soda in mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs, scraping down the bowl occasionally. Then add the oat flour and oats and continue mixing to combine. Stir the M&Ms in by hand.

Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 11-13 minutes, until they're barely set and just beginning to brown around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool on cooling rack.