Chocolate and peanut butter gluten free cookie-brownies

Recipe first. I felt it coming when my husband asked me three times if I was going to the supermarket (no, no, and no) and then moved around the kitchen saying that there wasn't anything bad to eat. Our American wwoofer lifted his eyes in surprise, but I knew exactly what it all meant, and replied that the cookie jar is empty on purpose. Yes, that he worked it out too, I am not the type that simply forgets to fill the tins, I simply try to 'regulate' the weekly intake of sugar in this family. But then I felt guilty, with the wwoofer we had an extra mouth to feed, and another thought crossed my mind: I never made peanut butter cookies!

When I told the American he couldn't believe it, they are such a classic US thing, but to be honest I am not really fond of them and I rarely eat peanut butter, which is also the only food that my kids don't like.

But my husband loves it, so I decided to go for peanut butter and chocolate and invent something that would feel more .... decadent?

I used:

200 g smooth peanut butter (with salt)

100 g 72% dark chocolate, melted

100 g sugar

1 egg

more sugar, regular and icing, to dust.

It is great to see that flour is not needed (gluten free, hurrah!!) you realize that as soon as the egg goes in: everything becomes really thick! I rolled the mixture into walnut size balls and then rolled half of them in icing sugar and the other half in regular sugar before baking them. I wanted to see the difference, and regular sugar works better for this recipe, possibly because there is no butter.

Baking flattens the balls into little domes, keep it at 180°C for about 16 minutes, no more than 18 if you like me like the cookies to be soft inside. Let them cool completely outside the oven before removing from the baking tray.

I actually had step by step images but they got lost while a keen helper erased more images that needed to be erased from my phone, but the process is very simple and similar to this one, a method that I often use, with few variations, to make most of my chocolate cookies. Of course I didn't tell this to Jacob, the American wwoofer, since he was so impressed that without having ever made peanut butter cookies I came up with these little beauties in less than 40 minutes, and no recipe!

Of course he loved them, so did my husband, but what about the kids? The came home from school and smelled chocolate. Arantxa was the first, one bite and she looked at me, but her expression wasn't happy.

What did you put in it?

You tell me, use your sense of taste!

Mmmh, some sort of nut... hazelnut?

No.

I thought so, I like hazelnuts... oh... no... you didn't!!! How could you!!!!

Max hadn't taste his yet

What!!! What is it, what did she put in it!!

Shhh don't tell him...

Peanut butter!!! She put peanut butter in!!!

You did?

Yes... but the chocolate is stronger, try...

Yes, they are not bad, you can just taste the peanut butter.

No, this is not good, these are like the cookies that Dad likes...

... And she doesn't. So, feeling guilty, I also made some vanilla cupcakes :-).

And this recipe is for the June 2012 edition of Sweet New Zealand, hosted by Shirleen of Sugar and Spice

Well, happy weekend to all, I leave you with one of Arantxa's art iPhone pieces.

How to make Rose Turkish Delights (Lokum), and Sweet New Zealand

Rose Turkish Delights (Lokum) Before I start I would like to say that I don't have a sugar thermometer, essential if you are really into confectionery, and that I didn't use much sugar for these Turkish delights. Many recipes use much more sugar, and it is not that I wanted to make a low sugar treat here (it is still pretty sweet), it is just that making it at home really makes me realize how much sugar there is already in my diet, and if I can have something with a little less... well, why not! This method is 'home friendly' i.e. these can be made at home with very little effort and equipment, and the recipe comes from my book Sweet As... where I also have the recipe for lavender and orange blossom Turkish Delights. Ingredients 1 l water 300 g sugar 2 tbsp lemon juice 100 g cornflour 1 tbsp frozen raspberries 1 tbsp rose water icing sugar (very little) and cornflour (lots) to dust. In a pot put hal...

Silver beet Paneer, a variation of Palak Paneer

The other day I showed you my curry made with borage , ‘invented’ because I have tons of it in the garden! The other green-leaf crop that does well in Auckland is silver beet. My old plants (from last year!) got so tall that I started collecting only the little leaves from the stalks, and they look like spinach. One of my favourite Indian dishes is Palak Paneer (or Panir), spinach with panir cottage cheese, and this variation is made using my silver beet. I washed (many times!) the small silver beet leaves, and then I steamed them and drain them. In a heavy pot I heated 2 tbsp of vegetable oil (I used rice bran oil) and sautéed for 30 seconds: 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp turmeric 1/3 tsp ground chili then I added 2 roughly chopped shallots and, after 3 minutes, a good pinch of salt and the cooked silver beet. I cooked everything on low for about 20 minutes (you may need to add just a little water if the silver beet is too dry) and then finely pureed the content ...

Crema Bruciata, or Crème brûlée, with nectarines, plums and cherries

The original recipes comes from my book Sweet As... , my own recipe which doesn't require steam baking in the oven and includes nectarine slices. Plum slices and cherries were also added here, and the result was delicious! In Italy we also call this crema bruciata , but crème brûlée is most commonly used now as it sounds sophisticated :-). To make the crème you will need one egg yolk for each 100ml of cream and 1 tbsp of sugar, for this recipes I used 5 egg yolks (thus 500ml cream and 5 tbsp of sugar) and I filled 8 ramekins, plus I had a little left to fill three miniature ones. Of course if you don't put any fruit on the bottom you will need more crème. It is up to you how much fruit you put in, generally I just line the bottom of the ramekins with 4-5 think slices, this time I think I overdid it (thus the leftover crème) sicne stone fruit season is not long in NZ, and I wanted to use more fruit than crème! Don't use watery fruit and remo...

Priya SureshJune 29, 2012 at 12:42 AM
Wat a lovely bake, wont mind having rite now.
SwathiJune 29, 2012 at 3:25 AM
I like peanutbutter a lot, sure going to try this cookies.
MyvegfareJuly 2, 2012 at 10:42 PM
what a lovely gluten free bake, I have been trying some gluten free recipes, first time here, I loved your Japanese recipes.., and vegan & vegetarian recipes.., I would love check out some, as my daughter likes anything & everything Japanese!
Healthy RecipesJuly 4, 2012 at 1:18 AM
Wow Yummy ! I am feeling inspired and going to make it tomorrow !
DanaJuly 13, 2012 at 5:56 PM
Devono essere la fine del mondo, da far assaggiare alle mie figlie che amano il burro di arachidi...e il cioccolato!
A presto!
health benefits ofJanuary 1, 2013 at 11:19 PM
Thanks A lot! I have been trying some gluten free recipes, first time here, I loved your Japanese recipes.., and vegan & vegetarian recipes.., I would love check out some, as my daughter likes anything & everything Japanese!

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