Peanut Butter Cookies Two Ways

A while back, Julie911 on tumblr posted a recipe for gluten free peanut butter cookies and ever since I had been wanting to try my own version of them.  These type of peanut butter cookies (I always called them fork peanut butter cookies since the impressions on the top of them are made with a fork) are so reminiscent of being a child.  They're sweet, chewy, and full of peanut butter flavor.  Peanut butter is possibly my favourite food, I eat a spoonful of it for a snack sometimes.  Needless to say, these cookies are addicting if you're a peanut butter lover.  I wanted to do something a little more special too on top of doing just plain peanut butter cookies.  I did milk chocolate filled, semisweet chocolate filled, and jelly filled (like a pb&j) versions as well.  They add a nice little surprise to the cookie and add even more flavor to the already delicious unstuffed versions of the cookie.

When I made the first batch, the plain cookies were absolutely delicious, but the filled cookies, especially the jelly one, stuck the roof of your mouth slightly.  So I developed a different recipe based off the first.  The first recipe is completely gluten, dairy, and all flour free.  The second is gluten free but uses butter and gluten free flours as well.  The recipe with flour and dairy is much better suited for stuffed the cookies.  The flour ones are delicious plain as well, but plain I definitely prefer the flour free ones.  I'll post both recipes for you to decide which ones you prefer!

Best Ever Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Recipe adapted from Julie911
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.
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Ingredients

- 1 cup of natural, salted peanut butter (I used Nature's Promise)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment or silpat mats.

In the bowl of a mixer, beat the peanut butter and both sugars together until smooth.

Add the egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl if you need to.

Add the baking soda and salt and until incorporated.

The dough will be crumbly but that's okay.  It comes together when you press it.  

Scoop dough with a cookie scoop and place on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.

Press a criss-cross pattern into the cookie with a fork.

Bake 8-10 minutes.  Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a five minutes until cool enough to move to a cooling rack where you should allow them to cool completely.  These cookies are very brittle when they've just come out of the oven.  I broke several, decided to put them in the freezer to add as crumbles to ice cream...but wound up eating them frozen.  They're actually really delicious like that too!  If I had the self restraint to save them for ice cream it probably would've been absolutely decadent.

Now like I said, you can do these ones as the stuffed ones.  I just found them too sticky when filled with jam.  Also you taste the jam much more in the cookies made with the following recipe.  And the chocolate filled ones mix better with the flavor of the gluten free flour ones in my opinion.  So here is my own version of this recipe, with stuffed center surprises!

Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

Recipe a Jesicakes original, inspired by Julie911
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.
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Ingredients

- 1 cup of natural, salted peanut butter (I used Nature's Promise)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
- strawberry preserves, or preserves or jelly of your choice
- semi sweet chocolate chunks or Hershey's chocolate bar rectangles.

Preheat the oven to 350˚F and line baking sheets with parchment or silpat liners.

In a bowl whisk together the brown rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the butter, peanut butter, and both sugars.

Add the egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated.  Scrape down the sides if you need to.

With the mixer on low gradually add the flour mixture until fully incorporated.  Scrape down the sides if you need to.  This dough will be less crumbly than the dairy free and flourless dough.

Scoop into balls.  Next you'll want to cut the balls in half.

Make a thumbprint into the bottom half of the cookie.

If you're making PB&J cookies, spoon a little jam into the thumbprint.  Then flatten the top half the cookie, place it one top of the bottom, and gently pinch the edges closed.

If you're filling them with chocolate make a thumbprint in the bottom half, place either a rectangle of Hershey's milk chocolate, or semisweet chocolate chunks (I used 3 per cookie).  Personally, I preferred the semisweet but kids especially may like the Hershey's more.  Place the top on the same way as with the jam filled cookies.

Use a fork to create the criss-cross pattern on top.  Bake 8-10 minutes.  As with the other version, these cookies are brittle when hot, so allow them to cool on the tray for about five minutes.  Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

The cookie with the flour is on the left, without on the right.  You can see the color change and can tell the more saturated color one has no flour.

You can decide which recipe you like better!  But I promise you whichever you decide these cookies will not last long before they're all devoured.  If they do though, they lasted a good week in a sealed tupperware container for me.  And they freeze well if you want to bake them for a later date.

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