You’ll be swatting all hands away from these Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. Think of a chewy chocolate chip cookie with a hint of peanut butter, bursting with three different types of chocolate chips. Are you sold yet?!
ME BEFORE THE RECIPE…
Turns out I got a snitch on my hands. That’s right, my little angel Emry is in the full blown tattle tailing stage of her life. Problem is, as annoying as it can be, I kinda like knowing all the happenings of the house. Nothing gets past that nugget, which means nothing gets past me either.
This is pretty much how my life goes:
“Mom! Braelyn’s eating more chocolate chips!”
“Mom! Daddy’s watching football!”
“Mom! Braelyn didn’t make her bed!”
“MOMMMMM!!! Daddy’s on his phone in the bathroom. He’s not really going potty!”
Eye roll, eye roll, EYE ROLL! Most the time I nod, say okay, and move on with my life. But sometimes…sometimes she gives me some good info that this mama bear just can’t ignore. That’s when I start shelling out some consequences for the perpetrator. We all know I’m the disciplinarian in the family.
Such was the scenario today. Ben got busted not once, but TWICE by my sneaky mole.
Here’s the gist. I’m obviously fixated (sometimes obsessively) on food and nutrition. I’m a food blogger, so what else do you expect? Since I do all the grocery shopping and make all the meals, I kinda feel in charge of my family’s nutrition. And with being “in charge” comes the implementation of certain “food rules” in our home. None of them are crazy or anything, but I stand firm by these few guidelines.
Here are some of my house rules:
- Soda, not allowed. Simple as that.
- No asking about treats during meals. We don’t offer treats every night and on the nights we do, I want my kids focusing on listening to their bodies’ hunger/full cues instead of stuffing their faces with dinner just to earn a treat. If treats are mentioned, the automatic answer is no. They have to wait until after dinner to know if it is a dessert night or not, and it has nothing to do with how much they ate for dinner.
- Sugary cereals are a no go. It doesn’t make any sense to me to start your day on a sugar high. We do have our occasional pancake mornings or muffin days that spike the blood sugar, but they are few and far between.
- Fresh snacks at home. Convenient snacks like trail mixes, crackers, fruit strips, bags of cereal…those can be eaten on the go, in the car, at dance class, etc. When we’re home, it’s fresh snacks all the way. Fruits, veggies, yogurts, smoothies, and other not so convenient yet highly nutritious snacks are our go to choices at home.
- No supplements. I’m talking protein powders, protein bars, protein shakes, diet bars, energy drinks…you name it. This is where you will hate me and never want to read my blog again, but I’m just gonna say it. America is obsessed with protein packing and supplements. Quite honestly, unless you are training to become the next best Olympian, there is absolutely no need for any of these performance enhancers. It’s pure marketing. Follow a healthy diet with a variety of fresh, nutritious foods and your body will receive all the nutrients it needs. I ran an entire marathon at a stellar pace fueling on purely water, orange slices, and bananas. Not even a Gatorade. We sell our bodies short and these supplement companies are banking off our lack of confidence. There, I said it.
Now rules #1 and #5 are actually directed toward Ben. My girls don’t have issues with either. But here is the loophole. Sodas and supplements are just not allowed in our home. I’m no dummy, and I’m no babysitter of my husband. He does what he wants to do, and I’m never going to change that. So if he wants to buy himself a soda when he’s out and about, go for it dude. If he wants to juice up on protein crap after his workout, go for it. Just don’t bring it in the house.
So this morning, after taking the girls to Crossfit with him, Emry sheepishly walks into our bathroom where I was doing yoga and whispers in my ear, “Daddy’s got a bad thing in his bag.”
Uh, come again??? I had no idea what she was talking about, and then I realized Mr. Macho probably had a container of protein powder in his gym bag. Yep. He sure did. I may have flushed it down the toilet. Ooops.
Then, a few hours later Emry comes waltzing into the kitchen saying, “Mommy, I want to show you something.” I’m thinking she wants to show me a cartwheel or a dance, but instead she grabs me by the hand and walks me into Ben’s office. She opens up his desk cabinet and there is a glass filled with some kind of purple drink. Come to find out, he’s stashing away an ice cold Monster energy drink. I may have poured it down the sink. Ooops.
So there, I’ll admit I played the role of crazy controlling wife today, flushing protein powders and dumping energy drinks. But my intentions are good. I just want to keep my family healthy, and with my passion comes a little insanity.
HERE COMES THE RECIPE…
To clear the air for stripping him of his “needs”, I baked him a batch of Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. He’s been complaining that I haven’t been baking any sweets lately. Well here you go babe! How about you pop one of these in your mouth and leave the energy drinks for somebody else?
Here’s the deal: Ben and Braelyn are huge peanut butter and chocolate fans. I’m pretty sure you could get Braelyn to go just about anywhere with anyone with a trail of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, which is kind of a scary thought. But what is even scarier is that fact that my grown husband would probably do the same thing.
So for my first cookie of the new year, I knew I wanted it to have a chocolate peanut butter combo. However, Emry doesn’t LOVE peanut butter like my other two children. Yes, I am referring to Ben as a child in this post because I’m still bugged about his teenage act of trying to hide crap in the house.
But back to Emry, she doesn’t dream about peanut butter like the rest of us. So instead of making a fully loaded peanut butter cookie, I chose to make more of a classic chocolate chip cookie with a hint of peanut butter flavor.
Result???
A dream come true!!! The girls DROOLED over these cookies. Emry tasted the dough and immediately fell in love even though it was a little more peanut buttery than I anticipated. She was so smitten with the flavor that she kept coming into the kitchen every 2-3 minutes to see if the cookies were done so she could try one. And after she tried one, she eyeballed those cookies for the next few hours until she could eat another after dinner. Yeah, I’d say these cookies were a success.
I don’t even have to tell you Braelyn’s and Ben’s reactions. That’s a no brainer. Even though Ben and I were pretty much giving each other the silent treatment yesterday, he broke his silence just long enough to offer up a basic “these are really good” compliment to me. And I was so dang proud of the final product that I mustered up a “thank you” under my breath.
Enough with my marital issues. These cookies, though! I’m telling you, it’s like eating a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup homemade cookie style. These cookies are reflective of the perfect chocolate chip cookie: crisp on the outside and ooey gooey, chewy on the inside. They aren’t floury like a typical peanut butter cookie at all, yet they have all that peanut butter flavor.
Oh, and I couldn’t decide on just one type of chocolate chip. I’m a chocolate chip snob and I have to at least have a mixture of two different chocolates in my cookies. It just adds depth and flavor. But with these, I pulled out the big guns. I added dark chocolate, semi-sweet, and milk chocolate chips. Plus, all the baking chips were an assortment of sizes, so that added even extra variation to the cookies.
We had some friends over for dinner and I served these cookies for dessert…after I made them my famous oven baked ribs. Their 7 year old boy (let’s face it, boys at this age aren’t usually the most polite) made a point in the middle of dinner to tell me how delicious my ribs were. And then he offered the most sincere compliment about how much he enjoyed the cookies. It was the cutest.
Yep, I’d say these cookies were beyond a success. They were an instant household hit indeed. And guess what??? Now you get to share them with your friends and family, too. Get ready for some “ooohs” and “ahhhhs” and maybe some awkward hugs and kisses from pretty much anyone who tries them. Cut them some slack. They may never have tasted a gluten free cookie quite this tasty in their life. You just made their day!
YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY…
- Gluten Free Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gluten Free Triple Chocolate Fudge Cookies
- Gluten Free Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies
- Gluten Free Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cheesecake
- Gluten Free Honey Roasted Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies
- 1½ sticks butter, room temperature (12 tablespoons or ¾ cup)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter (I used the natural, unsweetened kind that you stir)
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2¼ cups high quality gluten free all-purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 flour)*
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla. Mix until incorporated, scraping down sides as needed.
- In a smaller mixing bowl, sift together cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and gluten free flour.* Add to wet mixture and mix until well incorporated, scraping down sides as needed. Add chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed.
- Scoop heaping tablespoons of cookie dough onto parchment paper lined baking sheets, about 2" apart. Gently press extra chocolate chips into tops of cookies, making sure to not flatten cookies.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes at 375 until edges are golden brown, cookies are cracking, and no longer look wet.
- Remove cookies from oven and carefully slide cookies with parchment paper onto a cooling rack. Allow to completely cool and set before serving. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
- Store extra cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in fridge for up to 1 week, or in freezer for up to 3 months.
