This recipe for 5 Ingredient Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies is CRAZY easy to make and just happens to be naturally dairy and gluten free!
Happy December!
The month just started and I’ve already been a cookie baking machine. Just wait and see what I have in store for you guys! I’m really excited, as evidenced by my unusually high usage of exclamation points!
Last year I got sick on Christmas Eve and couldn’t enjoy the holidays as much as I wanted to, so this year I’m making a comeback. My alter-ego Coley Kringle is here and she’s kicking things off with a killer batch of cookies you’re going to want to make ASAP.
For starters, they’re really delicious. Crispy edges, soft and chewy middle, sweet, salty, and dipped in dark chocolate. The peanut butter flavor is fierce, because they’re basically made of 75% peanut butter. There are only 4 ingredients in the dough: peanut butter (lots of it), sugar, eggs and vanilla. That’s it! No butter, no flour, no baking soda – none of it is necessary. These are a minimalist, inclusive cookie since they’re naturally gluten and dairy free – but you’d never know the difference.
The best part, though? They’re seriously easy to make. Since there are so few ingredients, measuring and mixing time is kept to a minimum, and you can mix these babies up by hand. Yes! You can totally use a mixer if you want, but a rubber spatula, a whisk and a little elbow grease will get the job done just fine.
A version of this simple flourless peanut butter cookie recipe has been floating around the internet for a while, but I’ve made a few changes in mine. For one, I use brown sugar instead of white as per the Ovenly cookbook, and I use a bit less than the standard 1:1 peanut butter to sugar ratio. When I made these the first time, I spaced out while measuring the sugar and couldn’t remember if I had put in the last 1/4 cup. I added it in anyway, but then couldn’t stop wondering if it had been right.
The cookies were very good, but they were definitely sweet, and I tend to like my baked goods on the less-sweet side, so I decided to try them again only this time with 1/4 cup less sugar. I absolutely loved the results. They’re still plenty sweet, just not overly so. They spread a bit more in the oven, but that didn’t bother me at all. I’m still not sure if I had made them the correct way that first time, but I don’t really care now because I like them so much with less sugar.
These cookies are absolutely great on their own, but it’s the holidays! So let’s go all out and dip these sweet baby angels in some dark chocolate. Dipping any cookie in dark chocolate is a great idea, but it really takes these to the next level. Chocolate and peanut butter are a match made in heaven. Get your kids involved here – it’s so much fun! Let them dip and drizzle and get messy and lick their fingers. It’s Christmas, after all.
Bust out your baking pans, put on your finest apron, light a few candles, crank up the tunes and get to baking. It’s cookie season, y’all. x
One Year Ago: Roasted Mushroom + Goat Cheese Crostini | Meyer Lemon + Pistachio Sandwich Cookies
Two Years Ago: Barramundi Bites with Romesco + Chorizo | Blueberry Ginger Hot Toddy
Three Years Ago: Enchiladas Suizas | Cinnamon Toast Cookies
Four Years Ago: Detoxish Kale Salad
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This recipe for 5 Ingredient Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies is CRAZY easy to make, and just happens to be naturally dairy and gluten free! Adapted from the Ovenly Cookbook.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups smooth peanut butter *(see note)
- 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted **(see note)
- flaky sea salt for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and eggs until smooth, about 2 mintues by hand. Add the vanilla and vigorously beat for one minute more. Add the peanut butter and whisk until it comes together to form a thickened dough that’s the texture of frosting, about 2 minutes. Place in the refrigerator to firm up for ~15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Scoop roughly 2 tablespoon sized balls onto the sheet pans, leaving about 2 inches between. Use a fork to gently press down and create a criss cross pattern on each cookie.
- Bake for 14 minutes, or until lightly browned around the outsides. Let cool completely, then dip each one half way in melted chocolate, letting the excess drip off. Place the cookies right back on the parchment paper to harden, then use a fork to drizzle with any extra chocolate. Sprinkle generously with sea salt while still wet if desired (highly recommended). Let the chocolate harden at room temperature, or speed it up by placing the pan in the refrigerator or freezer.
Notes
*This recipe works best with the thick, old-school processed peanut butter. People have reported good results with a natural peanut butter, though I have yet to try it. If you go that route, my best advice is to make sure the peanut butter is well mixed and not too oily / runny. It was noted on another blog that the 16.3 oz jar of Skippy contains exactly 1 3/4 cups of peanut butter, so I tried it, and it was correct. So if you want to avoid gunking up your measuring cups with peanut butter, I recommend going that route.
If you use a brand of peanut butter that doesn’t contain salt, it’s important to add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to this recipe.
**Melt chocolate gently for best results. I melt mine i a double boiler over low heat while stirring constantly, but you can also do it in the microwave at half power in 10 second increments, stirring after every one. If your chocolate seizes up, you make it more liquidy by adding little bits of oil (coconut or vegetable) 1/2 teaspoon at a time and stirring until it comes back.
Keywords: chocolate, peanut butter, cookies, easy, christmas, gluten free, dairy free
Nicole Gaffney, aka Coley, is a professionally trained chef, recipe developer, tv host and food writer.
I love how easy and cute these cookies are! Can’t beat peanut butter and chocolate.
Thanks Sabrina! You will love them!!
OMG! This is a fantastic recipe. So simple. The cookies are sublime, and they stay chewy for days. My kids made them without the mixer, and they came out so good it was surprising.
Thanks so much for the comment, Ken! I’m so happy to hear how much you loved these cookies. It really is such an awesome recipe!