Insanely Delicious Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

The joys of peanut butter cookies have been discussed by many bloggers in recent months, and as nice as they sounded I wasn’t in any particular hurry to try them out myself. They seem on first glance quite a simple plain cookie, I was sure they would be nice, but nothing that special. Oh how wrong I was!

A few weeks ago I was hunting for a simple cookie recipe to bake and send to my brother who was sitting his first year exams at university. Everyone knows what horrible things exams are and how much of a treat a break from revision is with a tasty snack. While browsing some blogs for inspiration I stumbled across the flourless peanut butter cookie recipe again and decided now would be the ideal time to try them out. Packed with nutrient rich peanut butter, sweet, simple and very post-able they fit the brief perfectly.

They were so quick and easy to put together that in a matter on minutes the creamy nutty aroma of hot peanut butter was filling the kitchen. When I opened the oven door I got a faceful of the steam and it was so intensely peanut-buttery that I began to think these cookies might be a lot more special than they first appeared.

I could hardly wait for them to cool down to try one. They had a craggily surface appearance and were lightly golden and crisp around the edges but stayed gorgeously soft and chewy in the centre. So chewy in fact that you could bend one almost in half before it broke in two!

The flavour was delicious – insanely delicious. The peanut flavour seemed to blossom and grow with each bite. They are in fact one of the best cookies I have ever made/tasted!! They don’t lack anything by being flourless, they are still quite a substantial cookie.

I sent a stack of 10 of them off to my brother and I got a text from him two days later saying they were all gone and could he have some more! Even my sister who hates peanut butter came back for a second one. They have to be tasted to be believed.

Insanely Delicious Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
(Recipe adapted from Joy The Baker blog)
Ingredients

170g smooth peanut butter
80g caster sugar
80g light soft brown sugar
1 egg
1tsp baking powder

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with a silicone mat or parchment paper and set to one side.
In a large bowl, beat together the peanut butter and both the sugars using an electric mixer until well combined (it will be quite stiff).
Add the egg and beat again to incorporate before beating in the baking powder.
Take slightly heaped teaspoonfuls of the mixture and roll into small balls. (Don’t worry if the mixture appears a little greasy, it’s just the nut oils in the peanut butter).
Place the dough balls 5cm/2inches apart on the prepared baking tray. Use the back of a fork to slightly flatten the cookies and give the indent of the fork tines.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until lightly golden brown around the edges, but still soft in the middle. (If you like a crisper cookie, bake for 12 minutes rather than 10)
Allow to cool for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. They should crisp up around the edges but stay deliciously soft and chewy in the middle.
Makes 18-24 cookies
Store in an airtight container and eat within 4-5 days (this won’t be a problem!)