This one-bowl peanut butter cookie recipe featuring mini chocolate eggs makes it the perfect dessert recipe for spring and Easter!
Jump to RecipeThe Easiest One-Bowl Recipe
This peanut butter cookie recipe has got to be one of the easiest recipes on my blog! You only need one bowl to mix. Nothing more! With minimal ingredients you are left with minimal mess. This is the perfect cookie recipe to make when you are craving something sweet but just don't want to put in much effort.
This nutty cookie incorporates delicious pockets of gluten-free mini chocolate eggs. Bursting with peanut butter and chocolate in every bite, this cookie is bound to be enjoyed by all. A plain peanut butter cookie is scrumptious no doubt, but adding a touch of chocolate easily bumps up the intensity. You can re-create this recipe without chocolate if desired! However, it is hard to deny any dessert incorporating chocolate. A simple addition with high reward.
This recipe can most certainly be enjoyed year round. The mini chocolate eggs might say otherwise. Given the chocolate eggs are more festive for Easter, you might find this recipe to be a great one to add into your Easter spread. If you would like, you can substitute the mini chocolate eggs for other gluten-free chocolate chip options that are available year round. Again, a simple and straight forward recipe makes for a no brainer addition! Let's get into the nitty gritty of it!
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Why You'll Love These
Well, the only reason why someone wouldn't love these is because they dislike peanut butter! These super simple cookies don't contain anything that is hardly likable. Who doesn't love peanut butter and chocolate in combination? These are chewy and gooey, savory yet sweet, cookies of delight! With a super quick preparation and bake time, and a delicious outcome, makes for a no-brainer bake.
Easter Traditions- and Spring
I know many of us have our usual easter traditions. More specifically, we have our set spreads we usually like to prepare for the holiday! This may include deviled eggs, maybe a yellow cake and other dishes. Some of you may already prepare peanut butter cookies. In that case, I highly recommend trying this recipe out! If not, I suggest including a peanut butter cookie into your celebrations. As quickly as they are baked, they are just as fast eaten.
The gluten-free mini chocolate eggs are what make this recipe all the more festive! Besides utilizing this recipe for easter, it is still a fantastic cookie to bake through spring! Why limit ourselves to baking these just in celebration of easter? This cookie is perfect, really, year round even! The delicious combination of peanut butter and chocolate makes for a well rounded cookie. Both savory and sweet, chewy or soft, this cookie will never let you down!
Peanut Butter Cookies?!
To much surprise, there is actually a good amount of history to this well known cookie! First, the peanut butter cookie did originate in the United States in the 1920's. It was a man named George Washington Carver who had given this cookie its start. George was an American agricultural educator and was a huge promoter of peanuts. This all started due to the cotton crop being widely damaged from a species of beetle called the Boll Weevil. George believed that peanuts were a great replacement to the cotton crop.
In order to promote his stance, George put out a book of 105 peanut recipes. He compiled recipes across the board from other cookbooks to include into his. George published his findings in efforts of convincing the public of the peanut's versatility. It was in that book that included three peanut cookie recipes with crushed or chopped peanuts. It was only about 10 years later (1930's) that peanut butter became the ingredient to use in these cookies. Thus, creating the peanut butter cookie we know today.
Traditionally, peanut butter cookies are pressed with forks to give them that signature fork imprint we know of. However, earlier versions of the peanut butter cookie did not involve pressing with a fork. Instead, it was rolled thin or cut into shapes. The first reference of the now famous fork pattern came first from a Schenectady Gazette article. From there, Pillsbury had picked the method up and popularized it.
So why don't we just roll them thin like we used to? To start, it is effortlessly more stylish to fork press peanut butter cookies. It is a quick tool to use that everyone has in their kitchen. It also allows the cookies to evenly bake. The dough itself is quite dense. An unpressed peanut butter cookie dough is susceptible to uneven baking. So, for a stylish way to get an evenly baked cookie is to fork press it! However, in this recipe, we will be skipping the fork pattern due to the gluten-free mini chocolate eggs!
No Flour?
A cookie recipe without flour? If you are unfamiliar with peanut butter cookies and how they work, they really only need minimal ingredients! How can this be? To start, we need to understand baking theory. Baking is broken down into three different stages; expansion, setting and browning.
When it comes to baking soda and baking powder, they are responsible for expansion. Using room temperature ingredients allows us to skip the baking soda and powder. Along with the peanut butter being quite dense and fatty, it will allow the dough to trap in air and release during baking. Using our room temperature ingredients will also aid in the process of "trapping air". The "gas", or air, being released when baking will make the cookies rise slightly. Using cold ingredients, like our egg, will result in flat peanut butter cookies!
Now, as I had mentioned before briefly, the peanut butter has enough fat in it to act as the main ingredient. Meaning, we are able to skip on the flour as a binding agent. The peanut butter is dense enough to be able to hold the cookie's structure. So when mixing our ingredients, you will notice that the peanut butter alone will stick and create a dough consistency. And because we are not using gluten-free flour, we will not be needing any xanthan gum! The peanut butter really does cut out a lot of ingredients that we traditionally use in any other cookie recipe. This makes it easy, to the point and less messy!
Ingredients
Let's get you best prepared for this recipe! Here is everything you need for these Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies with Milk Chocolate Eggs:
- Creamy peanut butter: these are peanut butter cookies, so it's a must!
- Brown sugar: to add some sweetness to the cookies
- Coconut oil, melted: a butter alternative making it dairy free
- Large egg, room temperature: to help create the dough consistency we need
- Vanilla extract: adding onto the sweetness creating a well rounded cookie
- Salt: just a tad to balance out the flavors
- Gluten-free mini chocolate eggs: to make them festive! Also, who doesn't love a peanut butter and chocolate pairing?
See recipe card for quantities.
Getting a Start
This is the part where we finally get to put together our ingredients and get to baking! To start, you only need one bowl. This makes for easy cleaning! Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. This will prep for when we are done with our dough and ready for baking.
Now, taking your bowl, combine all ingredients. Yes, it is that simple! No particular order is necessary. Except making sure to leave out the gluten-free mini chocolate eggs for last. Just add in your peanut butter, brown sugar, coconut oil, large egg, vanilla extract and salt. Stir everything together until the dough becomes thick, then add in your gluten-free mini chocolate eggs. Adding in the chocolate eggs at the last minute will allow the eggs to better keep their shape and keep our dough a little more neat.
Once you have finished combining all ingredients, you should be left with a dough. Take a medium-sized cookie scoop to place the dough on the prepared baking sheets. If you do not own a cookie scoop, you may certainly use your hands! Roll the dough into small balls and place onto the baking sheet. Make sure to press the cookie dough for every cookie to ensure even baking. From here, your cookies are ready to bake!
Baking Time!
A very simple part of this recipe is the baking process. We get to sit back, after some minimal work, and enjoy the fruits of our labor. This is the part where your home will begin to smell like delicious peanut butter cookies with hints of a chocolate aroma! After creating our dough and setting our cookies onto each baking sheet, our oven should be done preheating.
Again, your oven should be at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Once fully to temperature, place your cookies in the oven and bake for 8 minutes until golden brown! While baking, you will be able to see that the cookies will rise. This is a neat phenomenon considering we did not use baking soda or baking powder. As mentioned before, when we were mixing the dough, we were able to trap air into the batter prior to baking. That air that we trapped is what is releasing in the oven, giving our peanut butter cookies its thickness!
After baking, make sure to allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before serving. During the cooling process, our cookies are able to fully develop its strong peanut butter and chocolate flavors. Nothing is quite worse than biting into a super hot cookie with molten chocolate. Save your mouth and wait those 10 minutes!
Serving Suggestions
I recommend serving these cookies up shortly after cooling, best when still warm, for the most perfect gooey cookie! If you prefer less mess, serving it up after fully cooled will ensure a less messy cookie. Getting creative with the presentation of these cookies is quite fun! You can serve with a side of the same chocolate eggs (as pictured above) and plate on a serving platter. Have fun with stacking them or throwing them together! No matter how you serve these, they will always catch the everyone's attention.
Top tip
If you wish for an easier bite with every cookie, break the chocolate eggs apart into halves and place in dough!
If the chocolate eggs are too small, they won't be as apparent in each cookie. So make sure to still keep them a substantial size. I recommend only halving them!
Storing and Re-Heating Our Peanut Butter Cookies
Storing our precious peanut butter cookies with gluten-free mini chocolate eggs is very simple. Just place them in a plastic bag and store in a dry place. These cookies will last for about 5-7 days. However, I really doubt they will last that long. I can assure you everyone in the household will be devouring them quickly after baking!
There are a few ways you can prepare these cookies when it comes to leftovers. You may eat these cookies warmed with a bit more of a melted chocolate. If you crave an "ooey gooey" cookie, slightly warming them in the microwave will be the perfect solution! It will soften the cookie and slightly melt the chocolate. However, be warned that this will be quite the mess for younger children!
The second way to "prepare" a leftover cookie, is you can eat the cookies fully cooled with hardened chocolate. If you crave a bit more of a dense texture and chocolate to bite into, this is the way for you! Easy in preparation, meaning that there really is none. Just simply take a cookie out of that bag and enjoy. An easy on the go snack that brings way more joy than any other boring snack!
FAQ
Super simple with these! Just make sure you press them down before baking making them at least a half inch thick. Luckily these are super beginner friendly cookies and are super hard to mess up!
While it isn't Easter year round, you can certainly make these cookies without the chocolate eggs. If you do wish to still keep chocolate in there, but it isn't Easter time, just swap them out for other gluten-free chocolate options.
Yes! Just double all of the ingredients to increase the serving size and you're good to go. No other modifications needed.
Other Great Dishes
When it comes to Easter, Passover or for the sake of just cooking/baking, I've got some other great recipes to incorporate! Here is my list of recommendations for your next preparation:
Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Eggs
Course: DessertDifficulty: Easy15
servings15
minutes8
minutesA deliciously savory and sweet cookie perfect for spring time and Easter!
Ingredients
1 ¼ cups creamy peanut butter
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup gluten-free mini chocolate eggs
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Combine all of the ingredients in one bowl.
- Stir together until thick, then add the mini chocolate eggs.
- Use a medium-sized cookie scoop to place the dough on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 8 minutes until golden brown.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
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