At first glance this list of ingredients looks a little weird – unlikely to work, but I promise you that it does. These fudgy gluten free chocolate peanut butter cookies really are totally free from flour. Nut butter, cocoa, sugar, vanilla and egg. That’s all you need to make a gorgeous, soft and slightly crumbly, cookie. Even weirder, you can leave out the cocoa powder if you wish to. You will be left with a perfect peanut butter cookie, but I like to chocolate these up a bit. These cookies are also lactose free and, with the addition of all that peanut butter and pure cocoa powder, they’re even a little bit good for you! What more could you want?
I’ve been making these cookies for a while now and the resulting dough seems to be quite variable in texture depending on the peanut butter used. Sometimes you can roll them into a ball and press them flat with a fork, other times they are a little stickier and need spooning onto the baking sheet. Either way they make a great cookie.
I love to mix up the nut butter I use, sometimes using chunky, sometimes smooth. I also use half peanut butter and half almond butter if I fancy a change, and I occasionally stir a few tablespoons of choc chips into the batter. I’ve not tried hazelnut butter yet but it’s definitely on my ‘to do’ list.
These are so quick and easy to make, you can have them in the oven in 15 minutes, and they take only 9-12 minutes to cook so it’s perfectly possible to have the most gorgeous, gluten free cookie on the table in under half an hour. Who would have thought it?
Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
These fudgy chocolate peanut butter cookies are easy to make, gluten free and even good for you! What more could you want?
Ingredients
- 300 g (1 cup) peanut butter
- 60 g (⅓ cup) soft light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 30 g (⅓ cup) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
- Prepare your baking sheet*.
- Mix all the ingredients together until well combined.
- Spoon onto the baking sheet** and flatten with the fork to make criss-cross patterns.
- Cook in the centre of the pre-heated oven for 9 minutes for a softer cookie, 12 minutes for a more crumbly one.
- Remove from the oven and leave to rest for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days or freeze.
Recipe Notes
*I have a really good non-stick baking sheet so put these cookies straight on to that. If your baking sheet is less than perfect either grease it with a little oil, or use a piece of non-stick grease proof paper.
**If my dough is quite stiff I scoop it out with a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon then press it down with the fork. If it is too sticky for this I scoop it out with a dessert spoon, shape it into rounds as best I can then mark it with the fork.
Delicious. Naomi (aged 10) made these in next to no time. Really simple yet delicious cookies. Next time, we’re only going to make 12 but twice as big!
Great idea. Sounds good to me!