Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

I have quite the stockpile of peanut butter from a great amazon sale I took advantage of a couple weeks ago. Then I saw this recipe and figured it was perfect to use some of it up for! Plus this recipe only uses 5 ingredients can't get any easier than that!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies-adapted from What's Cooking at My House?
1 cup creamy Peanut Butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
jelly of your choice(I used strawberry Polaner All Fruit)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients except jelly. Mix together until dough forms. Scoop dough out and place on baking sheet(I used my small pampered chef cookie scoop). Make a small indentation into dough with your thumb. Fill each hole with about 1 tsp jelly. Bake for 8-11 minutes. Allow to cool for 2 mins before removing from the baking sheet.

**These were delicious and came together very quick! They taste just like a sandwich would minus the bread! Perfect for anyone that is gluten free as well!

Gluten Free Chocolate Nut Brownie Cookies

A friend I grew up with started her own blog recently. These looked delicious, easy, quick, and I love to experiment! So I gave these a try. Now she does live in Colorado, so I thought I'd have to change the recipe a bit...well at least when it came to bake time. But I didn't need too. Of course if you were to make smaller cookies you will probably have to cook them at a lesser time. Hers were flatter, but I contribute the elevation to be a factor in this, also the type of pan I used(which was a silicone one).

I was also amazed that there was no butter or leavening in this cookie. It definitely peeked my interest!

I called these "Nut" cookies because she suggested using walnuts or pecans, all I had on hand were peanuts, so I chopped those up and used them. I'm quite excited to see what else she shares!

Gluten Free Chocolate Nut Brownie Cookies-shared from Everything Reconsidered
3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
4 large egg whites
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1.5 cups semi sweet choc. chips,chopped(you will want to make sure these are gf)
1.5 cups nuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 325. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together sugar, cocoa, and salt. Add in nuts and chocolate chips. Stir in eggs just until moistened, do not over mix. (The dough is VERY thick, so next time I may use my stand mixer) Scoop out dough and place on cookie sheet. I used my large pampered chef scoop and got 15 cookies out of the batch.

Bake for 25 mins turning half way through. You want them hard on the outside, even if they are a little undercooked that is ok, makes them even better!

**These cookies came out AMAZING!  I couldn't believe how chewy they were on the inside and the crunch of the outside added to the texture! I gave one to K when he got home and he said they were great(this coming from a guy who isn't a huge fan of chocolate) I then told him there was no flour in them, he didn't believe me! BUT believe it! They were almost too sweet for me, but being that this is one of the first gf recipes I've done, I didn't want to mess with it too much. Next time I will perhaps cut down on the choc. chips and even chop them!(I did not do that today)

267 cal/cookie

No Bake Granola Bites

Joy the Baker shared this recipe the other day. It sounded wonderful and easy too! I knew with it being hot it would be perfect to make! I was a renegade and did use all 2 tbsp of butter...normally I sub applesauce, but sometimes you just need a little treat! (So perhaps next time I'll try the applesauce) I will also double it as well!

No Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bites-shared from Joy the Baker
1/3 cup maple syrup or honey(I used maple syrup)
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
2 tbsp butter
1 cup rice krispies
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/3 cup craisins(or any dried fruit)

Place syrup, butter, and peanut butter in small sauce pan. Cook until butter is melted and peanut butter softens.(Mine did end up boiling, and it the pb was melted). In the meantime, combine cereal, dried fruit, and oats. Stir to combine. Mix in syrup mixture and stir. Scoop using a small cookie scoop onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet. *I had to press mine in firmly in hopes they would stay together, yet I still had some fall apart, but I just left them. Place in refrigerator to harden.

*These do have the potential to be gluten-free if your oats are gluten free!

**These came together very quick and easy! I will double them next time and they are SO VERY GOOD!! I did use natural peanut butter as well! This might be my new granola recipe!

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies

While at the grocery store, we ended up going down the cookie aisle. Of course A saw them and wanted some, so I said we could make some cookies when we got home. I wanted oatmeal chocolate chip, he wanted peanut butter. I had only taken out 2 sticks of butter(now of course I could have done oatmeal peanut butter, but I wanted them safe for Q), so I quickly looked up a recipe that didn't need butter. I had my doubts about it, but they taste just like regular cookies but with out all the extra stuff usually required for cookies.

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies-from Tasty Kitchens

1 cup peanut butter
1 scant cup sugar
1 egg

Mix together. Place in rounded tsp on cookie sheet, press down with fork in criss cross on top. Cook for 8-10 mins in preheated 375 degree oven. They will get slightly brown on the outside.

**chocolate chips are optional! but if you do use them make sure they are gluten free!