Peanut Butter Cookies Done 3 Ways

"Wow! These are the best peanut butter cookies I have ever had!" "No gluten? Who needs gluten when they taste like this?!" You will be saying this when you taste these cookies, just as my friends and family tell me over and over again. The simplicity of these peanut butter cookies are what make them so irresistible. When I first starting formulating the ultimate gluten free peanut butter cookies, I worked with a combination of different flours like white/brown rice flours, buckwheat flour, and tapioca flour. The peanut butter flavor was diluted. I conducted recipe research on different peanut butter cookies. One that looked promising was a flourless peanut butter cookie. Why have flour, butter, and like when you want the primary flavor to be peanut butter? It was super simple with a 1:1:1:1/cup peanut butter:cup white sugar:tsp baking powder:egg. I made this recipe and it was good; but I felt it needed optimization to make it perfect. It needed brown sugar to add a molasses, rich sugar character; an extra egg white to add some drying properties to the oil in the peanut butter and add in additional protein; add in ground peanuts to give some needed body to these cookies. With the eggs and no flour, there is no need to the leavening, so I lastly removed the baking powder. Over leavening will result in a deep dip in the center - not good. Lastly the method for making these cookies, the processing, I have simplified for guaranteed results. The finishing of these perfect peanut butter cookies proved to be non-committal, hence peanut butter cookies done 3 ways: rolled in sugar and fork pressed; PB&J; and peanut butter + chocolate. All = yum!

Peanut Butter Cookies Done 3 Ways

ingredients:
½ cup Roasted & Salted Peanuts
½ cup Sugar, white granulated
½ cup Light Brown Sugar
1 whole large Egg
1 white only large Egg
1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
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½ cup Sugar, white granulated
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½ cup Jam or Preserves of your choice (I like Strawberry Preserves)
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2 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 oz Creamy Peanut Butter
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***Recipe makes 32 cookies (using a #70 scooper)

Procedure:
Preheat oven on bake to 325F.

Using a food processor (I use a mini-prep size), add in the white + brown sugars + roasted/salted peanuts. Process until finely ground and homogeneous. In a medium/large bowl, using a fork, scramble the 1 whole egg and 1 egg white. Add in the sugar + peanut mixture and blend with fork until uniform. Add in peanut butter and mix until just mixed evenly. Warning – do not over mix or the oil will start separating out. If the batter is too soupy, let sit for several minutes to thicken. Now it's time to finish it 3 different ways!

1. Sugar Dusted & Fork Pressed Peanut Butter Cookies:
Put 1/2 cup granulated white sugar in a small bowl. Using a #70 scooper (a very small ice cream scooper), portion out each cookie. Roll the dough in a ball and coat in sugar, or put the scoop of batter into a small bowl of the sugar and roll around until coated. Put onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet or cooking stone and cross-mark with a fork (12 cookies/sheet). Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly brown on edges. Sprinkle with a little more sugar fresh out of the oven for a more sugar-frosted effect. Cool on rack.

2. PB&J Cookies:
Using a #70 scooper (a very small ice cream scooper), portion out each cookie. Put onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet or cooking stone and press a dip in the center of the dough with the backside of the scooper or your clean fingers (12 cookies/sheet). Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly brown on edges. Cool on rack.

Heat your choice of Jam/Preserves/Jelly on the stovetop (~ 5 min) or microwave (30 seconds). Be careful! Allow to cool slightly, using a small spoon, stir until it thickens a bit. Place a spoonful in the dip of each cool, careful in not overfilling the dip.

3. Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies:
Using a #70 scooper (a very small ice cream scooper), portion out each cookie. Put onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet or cooking stone and press a dip in the center of the dough with the backside of the scooper or your clean fingers (12 cookies/sheet). Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly brown on edges. Cool on rack.

In a microwave safe bowl, weigh out 2 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips + 1 oz Creamy Peanut Butter. Microwave on high for 45 seconds. Stir and if not completely melted, heat for another 30 seconds or less. Stir until homogeneous. Place a spoonful in the dip of each cool, careful in not overfilling the dip.

-Erin Swing
The Sensitive Epicure