Due to the fact that my phone line & dsl have been broken for several days, my Sugar High Friday post is, well, late. Really late. I wasn't going to bother posting this at all...but gosh darnit...I want people to see these cookies!
In this particular case, thanks to the theme hosted by Becks and Posh (one of my favorite food blogs!), this recipe is more about what is *not* in it - sugar and flour. Can you believe it!? Cookies with no sugar and no flour. I saw this recipe on Paula Deen's show on Food Network and yelled "Hay Ya'll!". No I didn't. I just went to the store and bought stuff to make these "Magical Peanut Butter Cookies".
They couldn't be easier: peanut butter (don't skimp on quality - i used the Reese's brand), egg, vanilla, and Splenda. Mix it together, form into ball shapes, flatten with fork to make "authentic" peanut butter cookie marks, and bake! If you eat one fresh from the oven, they will crumble. The key is to wait and let them firm up. Once they do, you can't tell the difference between them and regular ol' cookies. They even last longer than a normal cookie - I tried one over a week after baking and they did not lose their crunch.
Paula Deen's Magical Peanut Butter Cookies (makes 15 to 18 cookies)
1 cup crunchy or creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups Splenda sugar replacement
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a large baking sheet.
In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, 1 cup sugar replacement, vanilla, and egg and stir well with a spoon. Roll the dough into balls the size of a walnut. Place them on prepared baking sheet. With a fork dipped in the remaining sugar substitute, press a crisscross design on each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes, remove from the oven, and sprinkle with remaining Splenda. Cool slightly before removing from pan.