I rarely post twice in a weekend, but having written some knitting content yesterday, I feel compelled to show you these cookies. I had a craving for peanut butter cookies yesterday, and these more than hit the spot. They are super delicious.

I followed almost exactly the recipe for Classic Peanut Butter Cookies from the 1997 edition of The Joy of Cooking, by Irma Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker. I made two substantive changes: I used gluten-free flour, and I added some ground almonds. (Plus, I left out the salt, and sprinkled sugar on top before baking). I used my standard GF flour mix, Dove’s Farm, in the self-raising variety (it is a mix of rice, potato, tapioca, maize, and buckwheat flours), but use your favorite all purpose GF flour mix. The recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of flour, and I used 2 cups of GF flour and 1/2 cup of ground almonds. I also suggest being choosy with your peanut butter. I used one made by a local small batch producer:

Here then is the recipe, slightly modified from the one in the cookbook. Be forewarned that this recipe is written using standard American measurement conventions.

Gluten-free Peanut Butter Cookies

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

Mix together in a small bowl and set aside:

• 2 cups gluten-free flour
• ½ cup ground almonds
• 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda

In a larger bowl, beat together the following ingredients on medium speed until very fluffy and well blended:

• ¼ cup vegetable oil (I used sunflower)
• 2/3 cup peanut butter
• 12 Tblsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar

Add and beat until well-combined:

• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 ½ tsp vanilla

Stir the flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture until well-blended and smooth.  Let the dough stand for 5 minutes to firm slightly.  Pull off pieces and roll between your palms into generous 1-inch balls.  Space about 2 inches apart on the sheets.  Using the tines of a fork, form a crosshatch pattern and press each ball into a 1 ½ inch round. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until the cookies are just tinged with brown at the edges, rotate the sheet half-way through baking for even browning. Remove the sheet to a rack and let stand until the cookies firm slightly.  Transfer the cookies to racks to cool.

In my experience, gluten-free cookies often spread like crazy in the oven and turn into an unsightly mess; these behaved beautifully and produced a very classic cookie:

I hope you like them! I found them to be even better the second day. I have spent the morning knitting, watching great tennis, and eating peanut butter cookies. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.