Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies...12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

Ok, peanut butter cookies aren't traditionally a Christmas cookie, but with all of the hustle and bustle of the holiday baking season, a cookie recipe made with ingredients already in your pantry is nothing to pass by.  Oh, and they are AWESOME!  And, gluten-free!  Honestly, let's just cut to the chase and go with magical, because I can't figure out how a flourless cookie can have such an incredible texture like these.  Seriously, they are crunchy and chewy and just plain addictive. 

I've seen the recipe around, but until, I never believed they could live up to what a cookie is supposed to be.  But, one day, I saw the cookies on an on-demand episode of 5-ingredient fix, and then a few days later, Brenda posted about them, and I knew it was time to make them myself.

So, while nearly identical, the recipes weren't exact, and never one to follow a recipe as written anyway, I tweaked it a bit.  Now, here's the thing, I made the recipe twice, once with Jif and once with freshly ground peanut butter.  Oddly, the Jif recipe had more peanut butter flavor.  And, no, this is not a Jif promotion, but really, the peanut butter flavor was more intense.  Texture-wise, very similar.  Andrew liked the cookie made with Jif, but wasn't overly enthusiastic over the other recipe.  Everyone at work loved the cookies made with freshly ground peanut butter.  What about me?  Well, I'm a Jif gal, too.  What should you do?  Make them!  Use your favorite peanut butter and you'll be happy!

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar (I used 3/4 cup with Jif and 1 cup with the freshly ground)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-2 cups chocolate chips (I used 2)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Mix all ingredients together, except chocolate chips. 
Stir in chocolate chips.
Using a small cookie scoop, portion dough onto prepared sheet, about 2" apart.
Flatten with fork in a criss-cross pattern.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Cool completely before removing from pan.
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