Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Do you love peanut butter?  I mean, do you love peanut butter?  Because I love peanut butter.  It's one of my favorite foods ever, and I will eat almost anything that contains it (whether it's a dessert or not).  So for me and these cookies, being gluten-free simply eliminated one more barrier between me and one of my favorite foods.  That pesky flour is gone, and what is left is just the delicious intensity of the peanut butter.  You will not be able to eat just one of these!

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter (I used creamy, but you could use crunchy)

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350 F. 

Cream the peanut butter and sugar in a bowl.  Add the baking powder, and mix well.  Then beat in the egg.

Mix very well.

If you have the time, stick the dough in the fridge or the freezer for at least a few hours.  When you are ready, take small pieces of the dough - about one tablespoon - and roll it into a ball.  Smaller works better with these, and they will look so much prettier if you keep them this size.  If desired, roll the balls in a little white sugar before baking.  Place on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray or lined with parchment paper. 

Bake for about 7 - 10 minutes, just until the tops are firm, and then remove from the oven.  Let sit on the baking sheet for about another 3 - 5  minutes until they are firm enough not to fall apart when you remove them.  Using a spatula, remove them to a cooling rack or plate. 

A fun variation would be to use your thumb to create a tiny well in the ball of cookie dough before baking, and then fill it with strawberry jam (or the jam of your choice) to make a peanut butter and jelly cookie.