The Ultimate Peanut Butter Cookie

Christmas traditions in most homes include special Christmas treats: eggnog, peanut brittle, fruitcake, fancy cookies, candy canes.  For anyone with dietary restrictions, Christmas can be a tough time of year.  So as I was browsing my cookbooks recently, this recipe jumped out at me—it's gluten-free, meaning I could make a treat for some of my friends who aren't eating wheat.

1 1/2 cups crunchy peanut butter

1 egg

1 cup berry sugar

1/2 cup chopped peanuts

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mix peanut butter, egg and sugar together until well combined.  Add nuts and mix well.  Roll into small balls; press to flatten with a fork.  Place on ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake at 350* F for 15-20 minutes or until golden.  Cool on pan before moving to wire rack.  When cool, drizzle with chocolate.

Tips:  cookies may be frozen.  Do not use light peanut butter in this recipe.

(I used unsweetened/unsalted peanut butter, white sugar, and substituted extra chocolate chips for the peanuts because I didn't have any.  I also just mixed the chips into the cookies because I was too lazy to drizzle chocolate on top.  These are melt-in-your-mouth delicious, so I didn't give away all of them. :)

This recipe comes from the 1998 ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen Holiday Collection (and is reprinted with permission).  Every Christmas, my dad bought the newest holiday cookbook for my mom, my aunt, and my grandma.  When I entered my teens, he began a collection of cookbooks for me.  Every December, we'd dig out the cookbooks looking for favourite treats from past years and new treats to try this year.  One year, my brother spent most of December in the kitchen, doing all of the Christmas baking.  Another year, I filled a huge can (the size of a five-gallon bucket) with cookies for my bachelor uncle.  So my Christmas baking begins with my Blue Flame Kitchen books.