5-Ingredient Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Procrastibakers, don’t lose hope–we’ve got two days until Christmas, and there’s still time to make at least one batch of cookies.

And I think I’ve got the one for you: gluten free peanut butter cookies that come together in 30 minutes from mixing bowl to cooling rack, and only need 5 Ingredients (which you probably have hiding in your pantry anyway).

Peanut butter and chocolate have always been my go-to flavor combination when I’m in a rush (or a rut, some would say). And while a gooey quick-bake cake is always nice to have in my back pocket, for the holidays, I gravitate toward treats of the cookie persuasion.

December just seems a little emptier when I don’t have a few cookies on hand to eat with my morning coffee. This recipe has been in the Barber baking rotation for years–so many years, in fact, that the original paper copy was lost to the ages and I had to rack my brain to remember where I first found this winning combination.

Because there’s zero starch in these cookies, their texture is ethereally light and delicate–if you’re looking for a moist, dense, and chewy peanut butter cookie, you better move along. Or get a plate to hold beneath the cookie before taking your first crunchy bite, since the shatter factor and cookie shrapnel potential is high here.

The granular, sugary snap puts the creamy cocoa butteriness of the chocolate chips in high contrast; it’s a really lovely textural play that stands out in the simplicity of the recipe.

I sound very high-falutin’ when I describe these gluten free peanut butter cookies, but simplicity really is the key word here. Don’t even bother getting the stand mixer or electric hand mixer out for these.

With a sturdy spoonula or wooden spoon, you (or your kids… free cookie labor, ahem, it’s how we all learned) can do this the old school way.

So don’t delay any further–get yourself into the kitchen and bake a batch stat. You’d be doing yourself a holiday disservice to put it off any further.

5-Ingredient Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: about 2 dozen cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

5-ingredient gluten free peanut butter cookies bake up in 30 minutes from start to finish.

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Ingredients

• 1 cup (9 1/2 ounces; 269 grams) creamy peanut butter (this is one of those times to stay away from the natural/fresh-ground style)
• 1 cup (7 ounces; 200 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup (1 1/2 ounces; 43 grams) chocolate chips (regular or mini)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat liners.
2. Mix the peanut butter, sugar, baking soda, and egg together in a large bowl until a soft dough forms, then stir in the chocolate chips. 
3. Roll balls of dough no more than 1 inch big between the palms of your hands, then place them at least 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. These cookies will spread! 
4. Squish the traditional peanut butter cookie crosshatch pattern onto each round with a fork if you want, or just gently press each ball down into a flattish disc. 
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. 

Notes

The cookies will keep for at least a week when stored at room temperature in an airtight container, but they've never really lasted that long in this house.

One cookie always goes straight from the baking sheet into the baker's mouth for quality control, at least 2 more cookies "disappear" while cooling, and the rest do a terrible job fending for themselves against the holiday onslaught.

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