Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

So it’s now less than 3 weeks until Thanksgiving.  I can’t believe it either.  For many years my mom and step-dad have hosted Thanksgiving dinner at their house and not surprisingly, my contribution to the meal is usually one or more desserts.  Having never hosted Thanksgiving myself, I really haven’t had the opportunity to try many of the savory recipes that start popping up everywhere this time of year.  I’ve decided this is going to be the year I change that.  I’m so excited to roast my very first turkey, even if it means Shane and I have to eat leftover turkey for weeks.  The sides are a little more tricky since Shane only eats potatoes, but I have confidence that I can scale way back to make mini portions of the other mouth-watering sides I’ve got my eye on.  I’ll share all of my experiences with you over the next few weeks, but for today – another dessert 🙂

A few nights ago I wanted a snack and couldn’t bear the thought of another piece of leftover Halloween candy so I began flipping through Martha Stewart’s Holiday Cookies magazine.  No time like the present to start thinking about cookie recipes for the holidays, right?  This particular recipe caught my eye for two reasons.  First, because it’s unlike just about any other cookie I’ve ever made – the recipe doesn’t include any butter or flour – so I was definitely intrigued.  Also, the cookies combine peanut butter and chocolate, which means they were almost guaranteed to satisfy.  The benefit of not having butter in the recipe is that there’s no butter to bring to room temperature, which means I could whip these up pretty quickly.  I kept peeking in the oven as the cookies baked, curious as to how much they’d spread, if at all.  What I discovered was that they really didn’t spread much at all, instead in the last few minutes of the baking time they puffed and cracked just slightly on the top.  The cookies will feel quite soft when you remove them from the oven, but follow the recipe’s instructions to let them sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack, and you’ll find they firm up during that time.

Shane and I both really enjoyed these – in fact, Shane went back for seconds and thirds (and maybe a fourth, I can’t be sure).  I didn’t think the texture of the cookies (or the flavor for that matter) suffered at all from the lack of butter or flour.  The peanut butter flavor is prominent, which is a good thing in my book.  The only thing I’d change next time is to ever so slightly decrease the amount of chocolate chips, as the ratio of mix-in to cookie was a little higher than I’d prefer.  These are a definite repeat here, and as they keep so well, I’ll likely add them to my Christmas cookie trays this year.

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart Holiday Cookies

(Note: If you’re curious, the original recipe included semisweet chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate and roasted salted peanuts in place of the peanut butter chips.)

1 cup creamy peanut butter (I did not try the recipe with natural pb so not sure if/how it works)
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the peanut butter, sugar, egg, baking soda and salt until well combined.  Use a sturdy rubber spatula to mix in the chocolate and peanut butter chips.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets (I used a small cookie scoop), spacing them about 2 inches apart.  Bake until the cookies are golden and puffed, about 14-17 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies