My Long Lost Friend - Peanut Butter Cookies!

I love peanut butter cookies but since I was diagnosed with Celiac in 2009, I hadn't eaten one that brought me back to the taste I remembered from my childhood.

I have tried many recipes, including variations on the one popular now that uses no flour at all, and although they were good, they weren't the cookie I wanted to eat.

But these are. These cookies are equal parts crumbly and chewy, with just enough stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth-ness.  They are buttery and sweet and salty.  And they are easy and quick.

Ah, peanut-butter cookies.  I've missed you!

Allison’s Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

3 cups gluten-free flour blend (*see note below)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 teaspoon salt (generous)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy, your choice)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
extra sugar for making cross-hatches in cookies

Directions

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).

2.  In medium-sized bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. Set aside.

3.    In the bowl of your stand-mixer (also works just fine by hand, or with a hand-held mixer), cream together the butter, peanut butter and both sugars until smooth.

4.    Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well-combined.

5.    Add dry ingredients to mixing bowl and mix well.

6.    Roll bits of dough into 1-inch balls and place about 2-inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. You should be able to fit 1 dozen cookies on each sheet. Flatten each dough ball with a fork whose tines you have dipped into sugar (so they don't stick to the dough), making a criss-cross pattern.

7.    Bake cookies in preheated 375 degree (F) oven for 10 minutes. Cookies will barely brown, so do not over-bake. Remove from oven and leave cookies on baking sheets for one minute, then remove to wire racks to cool completely. Cookies are VERY fragile when they are first taken from the oven, so be careful you don’t break them. Repeat with remaining dough until all cookies are baked, allowing cookie sheets to cool between batches so the cookies don’t over-spread.   Makes about 6 dozen.

*You can buy a pre-blended combination of all-purpose gluten-free flour from brands such as Bob’s Red Mill, and they work perfectly in this recipe; but I make my own blend using the proportions from Annalise G. Roberts book Gluten-Free Baking Classics, which I highly recommend to all gluten-free bakers.  She knows her stuff! Combine 2 cups extra-finely-ground brown rice flour, (I use Authentic Foods brand), 2/3 cup potato starch (not potato flour!) and 1/3 cup tapioca flour. Mix well. Makes 3 cups, just enough for this recipe.