November is National Peanut Butter Lover's Month, so before it is over I wanted to share delicious peanut butter cookie recipe with you, that couldn't be easier! This was a really nice break after all the pumpkin, cinnamon and apple recipes jam packed into November.
This recipe is one of the easiest desserts to prepare, because of its minimalist ingredients, one bowl method, and quick baking time. I have this recipe pretty much memorized as it comes together with just a cup of PB, a cup o' sugar and an egg (I like to add some vanilla for flavor with some baking soda for a little leavening but they can be optional if you don't have them on hand).
Because these cookies don't use flour, that automatically makes them gluten-free, without having to sift together a concoction of expensive gluten free flours and gums. Make sure you are using gluten-free chocolate chips and vanilla (most peanut butter is gluten free, like Jiff and Skippy- creamy and crunchy/chunky).
The cookies don't contain any milk or butter and you can even replace the egg in the recipe with an egg substitute of your choice.
They are so simple to prepare. Just combine the pb, sugars and baking soda.
Add egg and vanilla and mix. Even do this step by hand if you don't have an electric mixer.
Roll dough into balls. The absence of flour
in the recipe really lets the peanut butter shine through, and the
natural fat in the peanut butter allows the recipe to remain rich and
flavorful without adding butter! I like to add chocolate chips, but you
can leave them out, or try using crunchy peanut butter for added
texture.
Flatten slightly and add chocolate chips, or create the traditional peanut butter cookie criss-cross with a fork.
Bake and viola! The best part is, you can whip these up anywhere, like at your
non-baker friend's house, who doesn't have flour in their cupboards or
milk and butter in their fridge... but they always have a half jar of
peanut butter laying around, some sugar for their coffee, and a few eggs
next to last night's left overs in their fridge!
Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield: 16 cookies (or 24 small cookies - shown)*
*For a small batch, cut the recipe below in half, using 1 large egg yolk plus 1 1/2 teaspoons milk (cows, almond, soy, etc) for half of an egg.
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (or 4-6 tablespoons honey)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine all ingredients in medium bowl, except the chocolate chips. Mix by hand or with an electric mixer, until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips if using.
Roll into balls, place on ungreased cookie sheet and flatten with the palm of your hand. Press a few chocolate chips on top, or, if you are not using chocolate chips you can create the traditional peanut butter cookie criss-cross pattern by pressing the back of the tines of a fork on top of the cookie dough before baking.
Bake 8-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Do not over bake these cookies or they will be dry and crumbly. Remove cookies from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely. This allows the center of cookies to continue baking and set up from the residual heat of the pan.
These flavorful cookies are for the major peanut butter lover. Make sure you have a glass of milk on hand because these cookies are rich and peanut buttery! Because they don't have flour they are a little more delicate, so be gentle when dunking :)
