Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

I suppose we’ve just had a food-based holiday; another is rapidly approaching, but I’ve been determinedly absent. This post will not remedy the deficiency of holiday-appropriate recipes, though if you’re inclined to seasonal baking, I would direct you here, here, here, here, or here. Or here. What I’m saying is: we’ve been there, and I’ve been busy.

I did bake two pies for Thanksgiving, so it’s not as if I’ve been a total slacker. We were visiting my sister-in-law and her family, including an adorable new four-month-old nephew.  One of these pies was pumpkin. Pumpkin pie is not a variety of which I’m terribly fond, so I won’t be recreating it in my own kitchen any time soon (though everyone deemed it quite tasty, and I thought it decent … for pumpkin).

The other was an apple crumb pie, though I swapped out some of the granulated sugar for brown sugar because I was feeling daring. It was quite delicious. I think I’ve finally conquered apple pie. So long as you slice your apples thinly and don’t over-fill the pie, it turns out it’s a piece of cake.

In case you were wondering, I possess no fear of mixed food metaphors.

So, to the cookies. This is quite possibly the simplest cookie recipe I’ve ever stumbled across. And the cookies are just heavenly. They’re simultaneously salty and sweet and have a dense, rich, moist texture that’s just perfect if you like a soft, slightly chewy cookie. They are heaven. Husband agrees and can’t get enough of them.

The recipe yields a small batch that can all bake up on a single large cookie sheet, though of course you could double the recipe. If you were to feel ambitious, you could probably whip up a whole batch, from bowl to cooling rack, in under half an hour.

But we’re not feeling ambitious, are we?

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from this recipe

1 cup natural peanut butter (I used salted creamy from Trader Joe’s)
¾ cup sugar – white or light brown will both work, but I think light brown is nicer
¼ cup malted milk powder – optional but highly recommended
¼ teaspoon salt (or ½ teaspoon or more if using unsalted peanut butter)
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ bag chocolate chips (about ¾ to 1 cup)
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together. The order in which you add ingredients is unimportant. I just glomp things into the bowl in the order I stumble across them in the kitchen.

Drop in tablespoon-sized dollops onto a silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. You might need to shape the dough with your hands, but it won’t stick to your fingers.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are just slightly brown. Makes about a dozen and a half.

Printable recipe here.