Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies |

During the last Gluten Free Living dinner party I said the next dinner party would focus on cookies and candies.

It wasn’t until I started to pull my recipes together for the party that I realized that I haven’t been making cookies very much since I went Gluten Free. How was that possible?! I love to bake cookies! How had I not noticed? Truth is… I guess I’m just not missing the cookies and candies. Crazy, huh?

So since I haven’t been making many cookies…. (Except for Brian’s Avocado Brownies) I don’t have many tried and true recipes to share at the dinner party. Oh no!

I hit Pinterest and started searching. I wanted to avoid having to use flour replacements… don’t get me wrong, I love Cup4Cup and Pamela’s, but I want to try to go as simple as possible. I want to use “real” ingredients. Sometimes I feel like the flour replacements are a crutch for Gluten Free Living. I know I can cook and survive without wheat (or a substitute for wheat). It just requires learning a little bit more of the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of baking. What makes a cookie “work”.

Now, I know these are cookies… they’re loaded with sugar… they’re not nutritious…. I’m not fooling myself….. I just want to go with “real” ingredients.

Here’s the first cookie that I came across that looked yummy and didn’t require fake sugar or a flour replacement.

I love them! Brian’s not super impressed (he doesn’t like peanut butter), but admits that they do “look” like real cookies. Stored in an airtight container, four days later, they are still soft and chewy. Its been a real struggle to not eat them all! I’m trying to ration them.

I found the recipe on Averie Cooks. I made a couple of tiny changes from her recipe, but nothing that I think would make a big difference, I’m just noting that you could do it either way and you should be fine.

I used crunchy peanut butter (Jiff) instead of smooth. Just a personal preference. Averie did say not to use homemade peanut butter.
I used a 2-inch cookie scoop and ended up with 2 1/2 dozen cookies (or would have, if I hadn’t eaten several cookies raw….. Yes, I know that’s bad and I’m sure to die from salmonella poisioning… I’m okay with that.)
I didn’t use parchment paper or grease the cookie sheet. They came off the pan just fine.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1 c. Peanut Butter
1 c. Light Brown Sugar, packed
1 Large Egg
1 TBSP Vanilla
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 c. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions

Combine the peanut butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla in the bowl of your stand mixer and beat on medium-high speed until well-combined and the sugar is fully incorporated and is mixture is no longer gritty. Add the baking soda and beat to incorporate. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Divide dough into two balls, wrap each ball in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, drop cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes.

Remove cookies from the baking sheet and allow to cool before storing in an airtight container.

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Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months.