No Flour, No Problem!: Giant, Awesome Peanut Butter Cookies

I'm in the fortunate position of having plenty of flour on hand. I generally stock five different types of wheat flour (White Lily all-purpose, Gold Medal all-purpose, King Arthur all-purpose, King Arthur bread flour, and either Softasilk or Swans Down cake flour), and I was able to shore up my supply early on during the pandemic before flour disappeared from the store shelves. But if you're short on flour, you can still make Shauna Sever's recipe for "Giant, Awesome Peanut Butter Cookies," because the cookies happen to be entirely flour free.

This dough comes together quickly. You beat creamy peanut butter with light brown sugar, melted butter, and salt; add eggs, followed by vanilla; and incorporate cornstarch and baking soda. In order to make the "giant" size cookies referenced in the recipe title, Shauna directs you to portion out the cookies using a 1/4-cup ice cream scoop. I wanted smaller cookies, so I used a #30 scoop (about two tablespoons), and I got two dozen cookies. I rolled each ball of dough in granulated sugar, placed them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and flattened the cookies slightly with my hand before using the tines of a fork to imprint a cross-hatch pattern on top. The dough was a little dry and the edges cracked as I pressed into the cookies with the fork. I sprinkled on a little more sugar before putting the cookies in the oven.
The cookies expanded quite a bit in the oven and it was difficult to tell when they were done because they didn't take on much color. These cookies stayed soft and the flavor was basically like just eating peanut butter in a cookie shape. They were good peanut butter cookies, if not the most interesting. This recipe reminded me quite a bit of King Arthur Flour's Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies -- which not only don't require flour, but also don't include any butter. I generally prefer my cookies to be any texture but soft, so while I liked these cookies, I didn't love them. But I can't deny that they tasted terrific and would satisfy anyone looking for a peanut butter fix, whether you're short on flour or not!

Recipe: "Giant, Awesome Peanut Butter Cookies" from Midwest Made by Shauna Sever.

Previous Post: "Who Needs Flour or Butter to Make Cookies?: Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies," April 25, 2015.

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