Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

(about 24 cookies)

My mother found out she had celiac disease a year or two ago and complained about how awful some of the gluten free products were. Initially I tried out various store bought cakes, cookies and breads. In the process, I came across a wonderful bakery outside of Seattle, Wow Baking Company which makes some of the best cookies I've tasted. I can tolerate gluten just fine, but sometimes I can't resist picking up a tub of their Ginger Molasses Cookies. They are simply amazing.

I've also started to experiment in the kitchen a bit. This peanut butter cookie recipe appears to be quite popular on the internet. What bothered me about it though was the amount of sugar used. One cup of sugar to one cup of peanut butter. Too sweet for my taste. I cut the sugar by half, added a tablespoon of cornstarch and the cookie turned out great.

1 cup chunky peanut butter, unsweetened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1 large egg

1 - 1 1/2  3.5 oz bars of semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine the peanut butter, sugar, cornstarch and baking soda in a bowl. When it's well mixed, add the egg and continue to mix until the egg is well incorporated. The dough will also lose it's sticky, gooey consistancy.

Shape small walnut sized pieces into balls, place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart, and flatten with a fork or the bottom of a glass. Place a piece of chocolate onto the centre of each cookie, if using.

Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned; the centre should still be soft. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool on the cookie sheet.