Egg-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Two or three weeks before Halloween my family (mom and sisters) and I decided to go ahead and buy our candy early. Bad bad idea. I totally went the 'holier-than-thou' route when the first bag of candy was opened, didn't touch any of it, and dirty-eyed whoever I saw chowing down on suckers and Tootsie Rolls. But that bag of Reese's and various chocolates was sitting pretty on top of the shelf and I was home alone...so yeah I opened it. A few days before Halloween we only had half a bag of chocolate left and I was craving chocolate and peanut butter 24/7 so to avoid scarfing down more candy, I decided to make some cookies! Plus I had a new peanut butter cookie recipe I wanted to try out, something different than the ones I sell.

I was seriously thinking about peanut butter cookies from the moment I woke up and I was all excited to make my cookies but what did I find in the refrigerator? No eggs! I did take a few minutes to throw a mini-tantrum but you know what? I wanted my cookies so I decided to go egg free. They came out pretty great if I should say so myself!


Egg-Free Peanut Butter Cookies (makes 2 dozen)
Modified from Lovin' From the Oven

o 1 1/4 Cups All-Purpose flour (I used Bread Flour)
o 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
o 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
o 1/2 Teaspoon Salt (I used Kosher Salt)
o 1/2 Cup (1 stick) Softened Unsalted Butter (*can be substituted with Vegetable Shortening or Good Earth to make these cookies vegan)  
o 1 Cup Packed Dark Brown Sugar
o 3/4 Cups Granulated Sugar (you can make it a full cup, I just like my cookies a little less sweet)
o 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
o 1 Cup Peanut Butter (I used creamy but crunchy is also pretty good)
o 1 1/2 Cups Dark Chocolate Chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease of line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars together until fluffy. Add peanut butter and then vanilla, beat until just incorporated.

4. Add half of the flour mixture and mix for 15 seconds. Add remaining flour mixture and mix until incorporated.

5. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart. These cookies only spread a little and they tend to puff up when baking. With either the bottom of a mug or the palm of your hand, flatten the dough just slightly.

6. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until tops of cookies just begin to brown.

8. Remove pan from oven, cookies will look sightly undercooked but that's alright. Let the cookies sit on the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Enjoy!