These soft and cakey peanut butter cookies are processed sugar-free and sweetened with honey.
Here's a simple and scrumptious cookie recipe from The Little Big Book of Comfort Food. Featuring over 100 charming, full color vintage illustrations, this sweet little 350 page hardcover book would make a perfect gift. The cover price is $24.95, but new copies are available starting at just $6.73 at amazon.com.
All Natural Honey Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes about 16 2½-inch cookies (or 30 smaller cookies)
Adapted from The Little Big Book of Comfort Food
Adapted from The Little Big Book of Comfort Food
We're fortunate to have a local source for wonderful raw honey, and one of my goals is to start baking with this natural sweetener more often. As soon as I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it. What goes better with honey than peanut butter?
These soft, cakey, not terribly sweet cookies taste even better the next day. This makes a small batch, so you may want to double the recipe. Ice cold milk is a must.
I've been using ice cream scoops
to portion out cookie dough since I started baking commercially back in (gasp) 1985, and have had some of mine for nearly as long. They effortlessly make perfectly shaped cookies, and are a very worthwhile investment. I have five or six different sizes; the scoop I used to make these is about 1½ Tablespoons and is similar to this one.
to portion out cookie dough since I started baking commercially back in (gasp) 1985, and have had some of mine for nearly as long. They effortlessly make perfectly shaped cookies, and are a very worthwhile investment. I have five or six different sizes; the scoop I used to make these is about 1½ Tablespoons and is similar to this one.
Larger scoops, like this size and this size, are great for muffin batter and giant cookies, such as my Yip Yap Chocolate Chip and Raisin Banana Snaps. I use a small scoop to make the Baby Chocolate Chip and Toffee Shortbread Cookies, and an itty bitty scoop makes darling—though slightly time consuming—mini cookies.
As always, I urge you to use local and organic ingredients whenever you can. They really do make a difference and often don't cost much more. We love Trader Joe's organic peanut butter, and it's just $2.99 a jar. Organic butter often goes on sale this time of year and freezes well for months; a while back I bought 20 pounds for $2.50 a pound at Whole Foods. Organic flours can be a bulk bin bargain. Look for local honey and real farm eggs at the farmers' market. LocalHarvest.org is a great resource for finding local food.
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup creamy or crunchy organic peanut butter (I used creamy)
4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) organic butter, softened
1 farm fresh egg (maybe even a green one!)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose organic flour
1/4 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder (I like Rumford brand)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Heat the oven to 375°. Grease a baking sheet or lay a sheet of unbleached parchment paper on it. Unbleached parchment paper is wonderful stuff, and you can reuse each sheet several times. I also highly recommend investing in a couple of heavy duty commercial baking sheets; they'll last for ages (I've had some of mine for 20 years), and once you try them you'll never want to use anything else.
on it. Unbleached parchment paper is wonderful stuff, and you can reuse each sheet several times. I also highly recommend investing in a couple of heavy duty commercial baking sheets; they'll last for ages (I've had some of mine for 20 years), and once you try them you'll never want to use anything else.
2. Put the honey, peanut butter, butter, egg, and vanilla into a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes (I use a hand held mixer).
3. Gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. This is a very soft dough; I chilled it in the freezer for 20 minutes to make it easier to scoop.
4. Drop cookies onto the baking sheet, and then use a fork to gently press a crosshatch pattern into the top of each one.
5. Bake until lightly browned, about 12 to 15 minutes (a little less for smaller cookies). Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container or freeze.
Other twists on peanut butter cookies from food blogging friends:
Peanut Butter Cookies with Salted Peanut Caramel from David Lebovitz
Chocolate Filled Double Delight Peanut Butter Cookies from Baking Bites
Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies from Gluten-Free Goddess
Flourless, Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies from Kalyn's Kitchen
Lower-Fat Peanut Butter Banana Cookies from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
Sweet tooth still not satisfied? Try these other Farmgirl Fare treats:
Cookies and Bars
Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Raisin Cookies (and how to hug a sheep)
Muffins and Scones
Cranberry Christmas Scones (tasty any time of year)
100% Whole Grain Bran Muffins (four different flavors)
Cakes, Tarts, and More
© FarmgirlFare.com, the soft and chewy foodie farm blog where my roommates in college told me that I did indeed have a California accent—it had to do with the way I pronounced the word cookies. I guess dessert always gives me away.
This is my very favorite kind of cookie, and your version with honey look fantastic!
ReplyDeleteFarmgirl, I love your blog, but I need to tell you that honey does *not* equate to sugar-free.
ReplyDeleteHoney is 40% sucrose and 60% fructose.
Just call the cookies: Honey Peanut Butter Cookies for truth in advertising.
But it's not the refined white sugar which cancer THRIVES on... I believe that is the point of no sugar as opposed to honey, an all natural product. I don't believe she is addressing sugar in a diet or diabetic way... more of an all natural alternative, because sugar is NOT all natural:/ Could be wrong but that's why I am using this recipe, for a friend who has cancer and cannot eat refined whit sugar for that reason....
DeleteYummy! Once we extract some of our honey from the hive, we'll have to give this a shot. Actually, I'm allergic to peanuts so I'll try it with my homemade almond butter. I just love the combination of nut butters and honey!
ReplyDeleteWhat a simple and delicious sounding recipe. Honey and peanut butter were made for each other! I try to bake with natural sweeteners as much as possible and I haven't made a peanut butter cookie in ages! I'll have to give these a try!
ReplyDeleteLovely and simple recipe. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAs usual I so enjoy reading about your fun cooking adventures!
ReplyDelete~Samantha
I love your recipes, but this is my dad's favorite cookie, I'll have to whip up a batch when he comes to visit for the holidays! I've been a fan of Rumford's aluminum-free baking powder for years, and bought farm-fresh eggs from the farmstand all summer and fall -- they were fantastic!
ReplyDeleteReally good! We added chocolate chips.
ReplyDeleteI made this but used organic dark chocolate almond butter instead of peanut butter. As my 23 month old said, "Ummy!"
ReplyDeleteLove this recipe! I am avoiding sugar like the plague and I absolutely love Honey so keep it up! Oh and if anybody complains to you that honey is sugar, just remember, then so is an apple! lol
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I found this recipe - I need to avoid cane sugar, so the honey is wonderful. I also must avoid wheat, so I substituted 1 can garbanzo beans for the flour. If you have any friends who cannot have gluten, please let them know it's an easy substitution and works well. I also used half the honey (only 1/4 cup) and used 4 T applesauce instead of butter. I love that I have a fairly healthy (low sugar, low fat, good fiber), really tasty snack. Our nieces and nephews agree!
ReplyDeleteHi there what temperature should I bake them with a conventional oven? 180?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure. I would do a search on google.com for 'oven temperature conversion chart.'
Delete