Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies

This recipe needs to be pressed into the hands of every newly gluten free person.  It’s an easy go to recipe when you need a plate of cookies to share. Your non-gluten free friends will love them as much as you will. It's a fast treat you can make for yourself when you're feeling deprived of your old favorites in the early weeks. They're a little on the crispy/crumbly side and perfect with with a cup of tea or So Delicious Coconut Milk. Three simple ingredients that are in most kitchens gluten free or not - peanut butter, sugar and an egg - that’s it.

If you have a peanut butter allergy, just substitute sunflower butter, almond butter or even cashew butter.  All work well and have slightly different nutty flavors.  I make sure any of the butters I use have only nuts or seeds and salt in the ingredients.

I use sugar most of the time but Xylitol works very well for those who cannot tolerate any sugar.  The original recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar but I find that a bit sweet for my taste. Lowering the sugar any further affects texture too much.  

Three Ingredient Cookies

Preheat oven to 350

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Makes 1 dozen

1 cup peanut butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

Mix together and shape into 12 balls – depending on the peanut butter you use you may have to squish the crumbly dough into balls.  Use a fork to cross hatch the tops for a traditional peanut butter cookie look.  I hold the sides of each cookie as I press the fork to keep them from crumbling and hold their shape.  It won’t be a problem when they are baked.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes.

Cool a few minutes before removing from your cookie sheet.

Cocoa Variation:

I doubled the recipe this morning and added 2 Tablespoons cocoa and 1 teaspoon vanilla to half of the dough.