gluten free pb-chocolate chip cookies

Have you, when financially times were tough, ever gone to a "cheaper" dentist to have semi-major work done?

This would be me about five-six years ago when hubby was in between jobs and money was tight--extremely tight.

And this is of course was the time that a tooth of mine decides to present a cavity.

For years having found the best dentist possibly on cape cod, who I love, admire and truly adore his craftsmanship for staying on top of the newest advances in dental work.  

Sadly this was the time I could not afford him.  

He is a lot pricier than other dentists and of course my dental insurance does NOT cover people like him.  

Which brings me to another point: why can't we go and get dental or other medical work done where we want?  The whole reason I'm going to a better dentist is so that it lasts longer/permanent and that its done RIGHT the first time.

Out of all the work I've had done with my good dentist, I've never once had any problem, nor will I ever have to have any of his work re-done later on in life.  

Whereas with the crappy dentist, every single tooth that I've had done I've only had to go to the good dentist to RE-DO!  Plus they still use unsafe materials (mercury).

Doesn't dental insurance want me to be fixed the right way the first time and save them money?

Or do they want me to keep going so that they make money--I know it's painfully obvious which choice it it.

So my day (yesterday) was spent at my good dentist fixing a problem tooth that was done as I said, five to six years ago.  The tooth couldn't handle the crown anymore; the crown was put on wrong (I knew this and lived with it, knowing I would have to at some point go back and get it done again).

But the pain it was causing was unbearable, so I spent most of the day at the dentist, dreading the six different needles I'd get.  

As I sat there waiting I became so enraged at the dental insurance and the fact that I'm supposed to use "one" of their approved dentists in the plan.  And on top of that, I think I'm allotted a mere $900.00 per year for dental work?  

Unreal right?  

I vowed to write the dental insurance a letter voicing my complaint, but I'm sure it would just fall on deaf ears.

As part of my "blogging new year" promise to you, I am finally going ahead, as per your with hundreds of requests of creating more 'gluten free' baked goodies.

And as luck would have it, my first attempt at baking gluten free came out perfectly.

I knew I wanted to use peanut flour, but it's so hard to find, and Trader Joe's doesn't carry it anymore sadly.

So I used coconut flour, which is wonderful, but a little pricey.

But the flavor the coconut flour lended to the cookies, mixed with the peanut butter....oh heavenly.

You must try these cookies!

You would never know they were gluten free.  Even my fussy husband loved these.

They are an odd shape, but who cares when they are just the tastiest lil nuggets.

gluten free peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies

print recipe

1 cup all-natural chunky or all natural smooth peanut butter (oily is ok, just not too oily)

¾ cup dark brown sugar (NOT packed)

1 large egg, room temp

1 egg yolk, room temp

1 ts pure vanilla extract

½ cup coconut flour

1 ts baking soda

1 ts sea salt

½ cup Bittersweet chocolate chips, optional

Cook notes:

This is very dry dough, so forming into cookie dough balls is a bit of work.

So what I did was just leave them as balls. They don’t spread at all when baking.

They are delicate and tend to break apart if you make them big.  Make the dough balls bigger than a tablespoon size.   You need to use this dough right away; leaving in fridge overnight will dry out the dough even more.

This recipe makes a small batch (about 12-15), if you want more, just double all the ingredients. I used bittersweet chocolate, semisweet was just too sweet and milk chocolate was way too sweet.

In a small bowl add the coconut flour, baking soda, and salt and mix, set aside.

In a small bowl mix the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.

In a mixer or by hand, combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined.

Add egg to the cookie mixture, mix well.

Add in the flour mixture, by sprinkling it over the cookie dough, not just depositing it in one large dump. Mix till just combined.  (I used my hands to combine this—it was much easier).

Cover bowl with plastic wrap well and let it sit in fridge for about an hour to come together. Do not let this sit overnight as the dough becomes very dry!

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 365 degrees F.

Roll into tablespoon sized balls and place on non-stick cookie sheets or greased cookie sheets. If you can flatten them without breaking then go ahead.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. These cook up very fast, so I really wouldn’t go past the 15-minute mark.  To tell if they are done, there should be a slight crisp of the edges and a light golden brown color on the edges as well.

Cool on a baking sheet for a while. Do not try to lift them off the cookie sheet; they need to harden

Should make about 12-15 cookies (small batch). If you want more, just double all the ingredients.

They lasted about 3 days, covered.