Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup peanut butter, smooth or chunky/crunchy (or almond butter or sun butter)
• 1 cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar or coconut palm sugar)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional—mini, regular size, or chocolate chunks)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients (except chocolate chips) together well. Last, add chocolate chips (if desired) and mix well.
2. Grease or moisten hands slightly and form dough into 1-inch balls.
3. Place balls on ungreased cookie sheet. (DO NOT press down as in some traditional recipes. See exception in notes below.)
4. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until golden brown and cookies look “set," but not done. Do not overcook.
5. Then allow cookies to sit on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. (This step is very important, because cookies finish cooking during this time and totally set up.) Remove cookies for cooling.
6. Makes about 24 – 30 cookies. If you want to turn these cookies into a really decadent treat, get out your jar of Nutella and spread some on the underside of one cookie and then press another cookie on top (top side out). See the resulting Peanut Butter Chocolate Hazelnut Sandwich Cookie here.

Notes

Do not use low-fat peanut butter; the cookies will not turn out correctly. I use Jif (all are gluten free), but it’s my understanding that Peter Pan (all), Planters (Creamy and Crunchy), Reeses, and Skippy (Creamy, Crunchy, Super Crunchy, Roasted Honey Nut) are also gluten free. One reader/tester successfully made these using all natural peanut butter, but advises that you must press them down a bit before baking---with a fork or the bottom of glass will work---for them to spread enough. You can easily substitute other nut and seed butters in this recipe. We love them made with almond butter. Ensure your vanilla and chocolate chips are GF. I make my own vanilla, but most are gluten free (e.g., McCormick's). From the celiac listserv (originator unknown)