Peanut Butter Maple Cookies with Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt {Gluten-Free}

Peanut butter.  Maple syrup.  Chocolate chips.  Melted into the goopiest goop you’ve ever seen. Marshmallows?  Sure, throw those in too. The goopier the better.  Growing up, this was my sister’s after-school snack. We had those hyper-colored plastic bowls that changed color in the microwave that I had received for sending in all my oatmeal box proofs-of-purchase to the Quaker Oats man.  She would fill one of them up with her special ingredients, pop it in the microwave, and pull out the sweet peanut butter combo (the bowl a different color, of course). I don’t know how this little “treat” started and could never really understand why, but everyday at about 4:30 in the afternoon, the house smelled amazing.

I had a great conversation this week with some students about siblings, family traditions, and our interactions and roles as oldest, middle, and youngest children in the family.  My sister recently had her birthday and it got me to thinking how it had been years since we lived in the same place to celebrate her birthday together.  She moved to LA the same year I moved to NYC.  Even with H and I being back in Kansas City now, the distance is still too large for easy visits.  My sister also recently started eating gluten-free.  So, I thought, if we were celebrating her birthday together, what would I bake for her?

And that’s when I remembered the after-school goop.

Like my beautiful sister, the goop has grown up.  These peanut butter cookies are simple.  Full of natural peanut butter and almond flour, they are packed with protein. Sweetened with maple syrup, drizzled with dark chocolate, and sprinkled with sea salt-it’s like a tiny birthday celebration in every cookie.  Happy birthday, B.

*To listen to an awesome TED Talk on The sibling bond, check out Jeff Kluger’s talk from TEDxAsheville here.

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Peanut Butter Maple Cookies with Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 36 cookies

Author Tessa Fisher

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all natural peanut butter
• 1/2 cup maple syrup I prefer using grade B
• 1 egg room temperature
• 3/4 cup almond flour firmly packed, plus a few tablespoons
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• Sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, whisk peanut butter, maple syrup, and egg until combined. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine 3/4 cup almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Stir in half of almond flour mix into the peanut butter mixture until combined. Add in the rest of the almond flour mix and stir until well combined.
• Using a small spoon, scoop dough onto cookie sheet. Dampen a fork, dip backside into the few tablespoons of almond flour. This will keep fork from sticking to dough. Repeat as necessary. Press down on top of dough to flatten slightly.
• Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown and place cookies on cooling rack.
• While cookies are cooling, heat chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl for two 30-second intervals, or until melted. Using a fork, drizzle melted dark chocolate over cookies.
• Sprinkle with sea salt.

Notes:

Adapted from Elana’s Pantry.