Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

When a friend is hurting, what can you do?

One of my nearest and dearest is really going through a rough time. Without going too much into detail, her teenage granddaughter has gotten herself mixed up with a bad crowd, and is now going through the painful process of learning that there are consequences for one's actions.

Watching it all happen has been difficult--for the girl's grandmother, and for me. It's strange to be on the other side of it all. I remember being that young, and thinking that adults couldn't possibly understand.

We do.

I want to help... somehow. I find myself feeling inadequately prepared, wanting to do something but not knowing what. So I listen. I offer to drive when we go somewhere. We have lunch together.

And I made some cookies.



I figured a few delicious cookies were in order. I made two different kinds of cookies from the same recipe: plain, with sliced almonds, and some made in mini-muffin tin and topped with a blob of seedless raspberry no-sugar-added-fruit-sweetened jelly: a pb&j cookie.


I made these sugar-free because of dietary needs--but can be made with regular sugar. They're are also gluten-free.

These are so good... I hope they offer my friend a few moments of enjoyment during this difficult time.


Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
makes about 2 dozen
from Kalyn's recipe

1 large egg
1 cup sugar or sweetener of choice (I used Whey Low Granular Type D)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used homemade vanilla extract)
1 cup natural peanut butter
1 tsp. water
1/3 cup chopped peanuts (optional)(I used sliced almonds... chocolate chips would be great here, too.)

Preheat oven to 350*F.

In a bowl, beat together the egg, sugar/sub, baking powder, and vanilla until creamy. Add peanut butter and water and beat together.

Stir in nuts if using.

For regular cookies:
Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Press with tines of a fork to make cross-hatch pattern. Bake 15 minutes, or until puffed and lightly browned. They will be soft to the touch.

Allow to cool on the sheet for about 5 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack. Cookies will firm up as they cool.

For PB&J cookies:
Fill greased mini-muffin tins about half-full with cookie dough. Press flat with fingers or back of a spoon. Bake about 10-15 minutes, or until puffed and lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes in tin, then carefully remove to a cooling rack. Top with sugar-free jelly of choice.



This is my entry for SHF: Sweet Gifts, hosted by the talented Danielle of Habeas Brulee. See the roundup of many delicious sweet gifts here.