Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes, you just want a cookie. My favorite kind is peanut butter, but I prefer to bake my own, since I know this treat can actually be surprisingly guilt-free if made the right way. Using natural peanut butter and only a handful of ingredients, these cookies take no time to bake and are actually made with ingredients you can feel good about eating (minus the sugar – but they’re still cookies)! Who says you can’t have your cookie and eat it, too?!

Ingredients (yield 20 cookies)

1 C natural peanut butter (*best when refrigerated – make sure it is stirred so all of the oil is not sitting at the top)

1 C sugar

1 lage egg, beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 C semisweet chocolate morsels

Nonstick vegetable oil cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Add peanut butter, sugar, egg and vanilla extract to a medium-sized bowl. Stir well until all ingredients are combined. The batter should be mouse-like.

3. Fold the semisweet chocolate morsels into the batter.

4. Spray baking sheet (or tin foil) with nonstick vegetable oil cooking spray.

5. Take small spoonfuls of batter and roll each spoonful into a ball before placing on baking sheet. Balls should be approximately 1 inch in diameter. Leave approximately 1-2 inches between balls on baking sheet.

6. Flatten each ball into a small circle with a fork – I like to make a decorative pattern with mine by either leaving the lines from the fork tongs or criss-crossing them back and forth (as shown).

7. Bake cookies for 12-15 minutes, until the edges are slightly browned. Let cool completely before removing from baking sheet, as these cookies fall apart easily if handled too much while warm. Enjoy!

The Goods: What’s Inside?

Nutritional Analysis Per Serving: 

*1 serving is 1 cookie

Calories 140 calories, Total Fat 7 g, Saturated Fat 2 g, Cholesterol 9 mg, Carbohydrates 14 g, Fiber 1 g, Protein 3 g, Sodium 46 mg, Calcium 2 mg