Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies (Reduced Fat & 210 Calories)

First, I'd like to wish my niece, Rhea, a very Happy Birthday!  You are FINALLY a teenager!  I wish your parents all the luck.  🙂  Haha!  Hope you had a wonderful day.  Love, HB!

So last night my husband was going back and forth between 3 different movies on TV... My Big Fat Greek Wedding, True Lies, and War of the Worlds.  I was really into My Big Fat Greek Wedding so you could imagine my annoyance each time he would flip the channel to watch the other two movies. 

It was 11:30 PM and I was annoyed so I did the one thing that makes me so happy, I baked!  

What I really wanted to make were Red Velvet Brownies, however I didn't have a smaller tray to bake them in, so instead I decided to bake Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies this way I could make a smaller batch. 

This recipe comes to you from The Pastry Affair - a classically beautiful website that I adore.

The best part is these cookies are flourless, however they do have sugar, just sayin'.  Even so, my husband and I didn't mind munching on a couple of these after midnight.  🙂  Of course, after the first bite he admitted how lucky he was to have someone bake for him after midnight... I'll say!  Enjoy!

NUTRITION: Peanut Butter is high in fat and should be eaten in moderation, however it is a good source of Fiber, Protein, Folic Acid, and Vitamin E.  Bittersweet Chocolate also contain a good amount of fat, however they contain antioxidants.


MODIFICATIONS I MADE:

• I added ½ a teaspoon of Vanilla Extract.
• I increased the sugar slightly since my peanut butter does not contain any sugar.  
• I used brown sugar instead of white sugar.
• I halved the recipe.

APPROXIMATE NUTRITION PER SERVING (yields 11 cookies)... the nutrition in each cookie is almost like having 2 tablespoon of Peanut Butter

• Calories: 210 cals
• Fat: 14 g
• Saturated Fat: 1.1 g
• Carbs: 23 g
• Protein: 6.5 g
• Fiber: 1.8 g
  

FLOURLESS PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES (adapted by The Pastry Affair)
~ yields 11 to 12 cookies @ 350 degrees using a flat baking tray
~ fat and calories were NOT reduced in this recipe.

• Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value Organic Chunky Peanut Butter (no sugar) - ½ cup
• Brown Sugar - ½ cup
• Baking Powder - ½ tsp
• Egg - ½ an egg (or 2 tablespoons)
• Vanilla Extract - ½ tsp
• Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips - ¼ cup (microwaved)
  

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease a baking tray using a little Canola Oil.

3. In a mixing bowl, add peanut butter and brown sugar.  

4. Blend for a few minutes until well combined.

5. Add egg, baking soda, and vanilla extract.  

6. Blend until well combined.  

7. At this point, scoop some batter in your hand and form them into little balls.  I didn't do this because I don't read carefully... so I used a mini ice-cream scoop.  That works too!

8. Use a fork to flatten them out a bit.  

9. Into the oven for 10-12 minutes.  I baked mine for 12 minutes, however consider baking them for just 10 minutes.

10. Ooooh... mine lacked shape since I didn't use my hands in step #7.  Oh well, they tasted great.  Allow the cookies to cool.

11. In the meantime, add chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl.  Into the microwave for 30 seconds.  Check to see if the chips melted.  If not, microwave again for 30 seconds.  

12. This is what I had after 1 minute.  Mix and the heat from the chocolate will melt the chips.

13. Drizzle over the cookies.  

14. Enjoy with milk, or in my case - TEA!  🙂

OVERALL RATING: 4 / 5
I give these cookies a 4 out of 5 because they are really good, crispy, crunchy with just the right amount of sugar, and a lot of protein per cookie.  These cookies are quick, easy, and pretty figure friendly.  They are good to make if you have a random sugar craving and want something quick.  Enjoy!




TELL ME: Does your spouse annoy you by watching multiple shows at the same time?  🙂