Gluten Free PB Cookies

What do you do when it is late at night and you have nothing around to snack on?  One of my favorite things to do is late night baking, but I am not a fan of the time it takes or the clean up afterward.  These peanut butter cookies fit the bill perfectly.  They are a quick one bowl and a spoon type of treat, they all fit on one large cookie sheet and with our family there are none left  to tempt anyone the next day ( I did mention I am the sole female here, right?)

I found this recipe in an old worn out cookbook.  They called them Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies, but I am going for the current hip food genre and renaming them.

 The original recipe was from one of those fundraising favorite recipe books.  I remember buying it when I worked at my second ever job.  The cover is long gone and I have no idea what the group was.  Sorry I can't give your group credit.  Sorrier that I can still see the woman's face who sold it to me but I have no idea what her name was. And since I am already in apology mode I apologize in advance to my friend, Peggy. These are about as easy as the 6 minute microwave brownies and about as addictive.

                                                                 G.F. Peanut Butter Cookies

3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a medium sized bowl mix the brown sugar and peanut butter.  You want to stir it until it is grainy and thick.  Regular Jif or Peter Pan type peanut butters works much better than a natural one, unless you happen to have just made it or bought it freshly ground. ( Sorry, but that is just how it is.)
Add the egg and beat it in well.  Next add the baking soda and salt.  Blend well.
Roll the dough into balls about the size of a small walnut.  Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Make the traditional criss cross design with a fork.  Bake at 350 degrees until the outside edges begin to brown. It takes about 10 minutes in my oven, but it seems all ovens have their own peculiarities so watch your first batch.  There is a very fine line here between done and burned.

These are delicious and will make you wonder why you ever made traditional peanut butter cookies.  I will never bother with them again now that I have found these goodies!  Try them, and if you'd like add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips before you roll them into balls.  We tried it but did not like it as well as the plain peanut butter, however, we dipped 1/2 the cookie ( like a half moon)  of some  plain ones  in melted chocolate and really liked them that way.

So pour a glass of cold milk and dig in.