Peanut Butter and Honey Choc Chip Cookies (they’re flourless too!)

These are an interesting cookie – they are really soft, almost cakey in texture as there is no flour in them.  I have to admit, I was a little worried I wouldn’t get these cookies to work.  The first time I made them, I had the oven at a normal ‘moderate’ baking temperature and used a fancy peanut butter, and they didn’t turn out.  They started to burn really quickly and they peanut butter was too runny, so the cookies were similar to a very moist but crumbly brownie texture when I had to take them out of the oven after all of five minutes.  Anyways, I picked myself up and tried again, making a few tweaks that have paid off.  And yes, it still is a very wet mix, but the cookies do firm up slightly when cooling.

They are a reasonably healthy treat (no flour or cups of sugar) if you eat them in moderation and I have to say I love the addition of almond extract instead of vanilla – it gives these cookies a unique flavour which is incredibly moreish and goes so well with the peanut butter and honey.  And, if you need another reason to try these, it turns out the 16th – 23rd March is ‘National Honey Week’ for 2015!

Makes about 12 cookies.

Ingredients:
¾ cup peanut butter (I used Sanitarium’s No added Sugar or Salt Crunchy variety)
⅓ cup honey
1 egg
½ teaspoon almond extract
¼ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of sea salt flakes
½ cup dark chocolate bits

Method:
Preheat the oven to 160C.  Line a baking tray with baking paper.
In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients except the chocolate, until everything is combined and smooth.  Fold through the chocolate bits.
Scoop out small amounts of the mixture and drop onto the prepared baking tray (an ice cream scoop works well for this).
Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking tray for at least 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.