Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Peanut Butter, almond butter, hazelnut butter, cashew butter...I love them all and wish I could use them as toothpaste!

If you have a serious cookie craving then you have come to the right place. These peanut butter cookies are now one of my new favourites. They have a bit of a twist on the classic peanut butter cookie.

I decided to make them gluten-free, so for the flour I used my all purpose gluten-free blend, which I had leftover from last week's Blueberry-Peach Cobbler. If you don't have any problems with gluten and you want to, you can substitute plain old everyday all purpose flour with the exact same measurements I give for the gluten-free flour. However, these cookies turned out amazing using the gluten-free all purpose flour mix. In fact if you gave these cookies to your friends and family and then told them that they were gluten-free they probably wouldn't believe you. That's how much faith I have in this flour mix.

These are lightly spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. The butter is cut back because of the addition of peanut butter. They're similar in taste to a ginger cookie with the molasses and warm spices.

They are a very thin cookie but don't let that fool you. They're soft and chewy on the inside. And the little bit of chocolate brings it all together.

This is my new addiction!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies gluten free (yields 1 dozen)

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup + 1 tbsp all purpose gluten-free flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon, divided
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg)
  
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
• 1/3 cup light peanut butter
• 3 tbsp butter, softened
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 ounces chocolate chunks
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together flours, baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Set aside. Combine granulated sugar and remaining 1 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. In another medium bowl, beat together brown sugar, peanut butter and butter on medium speed of electric mixer for about 1 minute. Add molasses, egg, and vanilla. Beat again until smooth.
4. Working a little bit at a time, stir flour mixture into peanut butter mixture until all the flour mix is incorporated. Stir in chocolate chunks. The dough will be stiff. Using your hands, shape dough into 2 inch balls. Roll balls in reserved cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place on cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart (6 per sheet is best). Flatten cookies slightly using a fork.
5. Bake for 7 minutes. They may appear undercooked, but that’s okay. Remove cookies from oven and immediately transfer from pan to a wire rack to cool.

Gluten Free Peach-Blueberry Cobbler

This recipe has been in my head for awhile now. I've been very curious about gluten free flours and baking with them. Although I'm not allergic gluten myself, I like to make gluten free recipes for family and friends who are. Of course, I enjoy them too.

I turned to Gluten Free Girl to help me learn more about the types of flours there are (some of which I already know) so I could attempt making my own gluten free flour mix. Gluten free baking is not so simple as one might imagine and can get quite scientific. Trying to find the perfect gluten-free flour blend is like trying to find Waldo. Sure you can take the guess work out of it all and buy the pre-made flour mixes at the store, but I enjoy the challenge and trial + error that goes with experimenting (playing) in the kitchen.

There is a wide variety of gluten free flours, and starches that can be used in combination to create high-quality baked goods. For a list of gluten free flours that are available to you check out the Gluten Free Girl's guide to making your own all purpose flour like I did and don't be afraid to experiment. She suggests using a 40/60 ratio of whole grain to white flours/starches. She explains that wheat flour is part protein and part starches. That is why you want to mix the high protein whole grain flours like millet, buckwheat, teff etc. with starches like sweet rice flour, arrowroot flour and potato starch. The starches are what help to hold the flour together and give you that high-quality baked good. 

I decided to try sorghum and millet flours for the 40% whole grains; sweet rice flour and arrowroot flour for 60% starches. I really liked the smell and taste of these all mingled together once they were baked. 

The texture of sorghum flour is a lot like whole wheat pastry flour and is very high in protein. The millet flour nice and light, perfect for making quick breads or biscuits with a nice crumb.

Peaches are one of my favourite stone fruits and are in season right now.

I used wild blueberries, but regular are fine too. The flavour of wild when compared to cultivated blueberries in out of this world.

Now where's the vanilla ice cream?

Peach-Blueberry Cobbler gluten-free (serves 6)

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Ingredients:

For the All Purpose gluten free flour mix:

• 200 grams sorghum flour
• 200 grams millet flour
• 300 grams sweet rice flour
• 300 grams arrowroot flour

For the Cobbler: 

• 4 cups fresh peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp brown sugar, divided
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose gluten free flour mix
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon 
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1/2 cup blueberries

Directions:

Make the All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix:

First we want to make our flour mixture. It will make 1000 grams of flour. Combine the sorghum, millet, sweet rice, and arrowroot flours together in a large bowl and whisk very well. The mix will end up being all one colour. Now you're ready to make the cobbler!

1. Heat oven to 375º.
2. Bring 2 tbsp of sugar, peach slices, and lemon juice to a low boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes until peaches are partially softened.
3. Arrange peach mixture in an 8x8 baking dish.
4. Combine 2 cups of flour mix, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in the butter until incorporated. Slowly, pour in the milk, a little at a time, stirring just until combined. Stir in blueberries.
5. Spread batter evenly over peach mixture. Set the dish on a baking sheet lined with parchement paper.
6. Bake at 375º for 30-45 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and filling is bubbly around the sides.
7. Serve warm.

Note: Store your leftover flour in a sealed container or flour bag for any recipe you want to create in the future.