Gluten (And Dairy!) Free Peanut Butter Cookies!

Soooo....I won't have a photo of the day for today until we go to the homecoming parade and football game tonight. BUT I'm making gluten free peanut butter cookies and thought I would share with all of you (the recipe, not the actual cookies...sorry). :)

The recipe is from this book. There are a few others that I'm going to try soon too, like chocolate cheesecake. I chose this recipe today because I already had everything it needed, and they're things that you *should* already have in your pantry/fridge and it doesn't use very much of each ingredient either.

These four ingredients are seriously all you need. 1 cup packed light brown sugar, 1 cup creamy peanut butter, 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (it says to use dairy free for the dairy free recipe, but do chocolate chips even have dairy in them to begin with? I don't know about that one...), and 1 egg lightly beaten.

Beat peanut butter, brown sugar, and egg until smooth. This was as good as mine got and it started to clump together to the point where it was actually pulling itself off from the sides of the bowl. (P.S. I used a KitchenAid mixer, not that wooden spoon)

Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls. My first attempt at this, I used a muffin tin instead of a cookie sheet (you are better off using the cookie sheet). I got the idea after I read Amanda's post (Kevin and Amanda), where they baked cookies using a muffin TOP pan. It didn't work as well for me as it did for them.

You're supposed to bake them for 10 to 12 minutes, until they SET. Guess what...they don't set until they cool. So after 10 minutes, they are cooked completely even though they are still the same consistency as the dough. The brown sugar in the dough hardens once they start to cool. So don't let the recipe fool you like it did me. That's how I burned the first batch. By the way...they don't even flatten themselves out as they bake, so if you don't smush them down, they will end up coming out like the picture above.

Second batch, I used a regular cookie sheet and cooked only for time instructed. These were much better. The cookies from the first batch still tasted good, they were just a little burned on the bottom.

Then, I put the chocolate chips in the microwave and hit the wrong number. I went downstairs to check on Aiden, and when I came back up,  the whole kitchen was smoking. My chocolate chips caught on fire.

I'd say we need to try this recipe again on another day. Or you can just try it for me. Just please don't burn your house down. Anyway...I'd like to know how this turns out for YOU if you try it. :)

I got the nutritional information from Calorie Count Recipe Analysis. All you have to do is type the ingredients and the serving size into the required areas, and it will come up with an approximate nutrition panel for each serving (it will vary a little since the website uses average calories for each generic item, not the actual calories in specific brands). These you will only be able to enjoy one or two at a time, as they have a lot of calories and sugar for just one cookie. But if they turn out, they're WORTH it.


Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen cookies

1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup dairy free semisweet chocolate chips, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat brown sugar, peanut butter, and egg in medium bowl with electric mixer until blended and smooth.

2. Shape dough into roughly 24 1-1/2 inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten dough slightly with fork (I would flatten them until they're as thin as you want your cookies to be). Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set (you really should just bake them for 12 minutes, not question the consistency, and then reevaluate after they've cooled). Remove to wire racks (I would let the cookies cool a little bit first, otherwise they'll break into pieces as you're trying to move them); cool completely. Drizzle with chocolate. 

                                                                                                                                                                      

I also started testing this super cute Santa Pixie hat for Tanya from Hodgepodge Crochet. The pattern is not released yet as it's still in the testing phase, but I will try to remember to post a link for it when it's published and for sale. I have to finish the brim tomorrow after I get some fun fur yarn, but I should post another picture of it after I'm done.

UPDATE!: Since I'm finally posting this at 11 pm (almost 12 hours since I started writing it this morning!) I just thought I should let you know that I haven't had ANYTHING with gluten in it in over 48 hours! Not even the one noodle that made it on my plate Wednesday night when my parents made Chicken Parmesan, and even though I was SO tempted tonight when James got a hot pretzel at the football game. I even got some extra exercise at the game by carrying Aiden in a front carrier instead of pushing him in the stroller. I'm so proud of myself! And I already told James that he has to massage the knot out of my shoulder before I go to bed tonight because it HURTS!

Now....GET SOME SLEEP! Because I'm going to. My bed is calling my name............

:)