Soft, Chewy, Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies

Soft, Chewy, Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies

Tomorrow, March 1st, is National Peanut Butter Lovers Day.
And I love peanut butter.
Growing up, my family called me Peanut in reference to my love of all things peanut butter. When Reeses Puffs cereal debuted back in the '90s,  it was like they had made a breakfast cereal just for me. I was crazy about the stuff.
Now I eat far more nut butter, but far less peanut butter than I used to. Cashew butter, macadamia nut butter, even almond butter- delicious alternatives. But simply nothing can replace good ol' peanut butter in a cookie.

I kept the cookies gluten-free by using brown rice flour as a base instead of wheat flour. I added potato starch for moistness, since often times my gluten-free experiments turn out far too dry.
The result? A perfectly soft, chewy cookie with just a little crunch. Try dunking 'em in some dairy-free milk. Or just gobble 'em up. But be careful, they make your mouth ooey-gooey if you eat too many...like any good peanut butter cookie should!

A note: We used organic chunky peanut butter with no added sugar or oils. Just ground up peanuts. Feel free to use whatever you have on hand, but note that the cookies may be considerably sweeter if you use PB w/ added sugars. But they're cookies, so its all good.

Ingredients:
1 chia or flax egg
(1 tablespoon ground chia or flax powder + 3 tablespoons water)
1/2 cup mashed banana
1 cup chunky (or creamy, your choice!) peanut butter
3/4 cup raw sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup brown rice flour
1 teaspoon potato starch (optional, for moistness)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
First, make your 'egg' by combining 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds (or flax) and  3 tablespoons water. Let it sit for about 10 minutes to gelatinize; in the meantime, prepare the rest of the dough.
In a large mixing bowl, combine mashed banana, peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well using a fork or whisk.
When chia egg is ready, add that and the milk to the bowl. Mix to combine.
Finally, throw in the salt, baking powder, baking soda, flour and potato starch.
Mix very well using a fork, a strong wooden spoon, or your hands. Just make sure there are no clumps of dry ingredients anywhere in there and that everything is well mixed.

Spoon balls of cookie dough onto a non-stick baking sheet. Slightly flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until edges firm up and slightly brown. Makes 16-20 cookies.

**To make traditional fork lines in the cookies, take them out halfway through baking, and press a fork twice, in opposite directions, into the cookie. Place the baking sheet immediately back into the oven to finish cooking.**

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Stored in an airtight container, these chewy, soft delicious cookies will last about a week.
But tomorrow is National Peanut Butter Lovers Day so really, don't hold back. 

Enjoy!