With the approach of spring, school students often go on field trips. However, not only do the students and teachers go, but parent and grandparent chaperones. Typically, everyone going on a field trip needs to pack a lunch. And most of those lunches will include cookies. Peanut butter cookies are a favorite for field trips because they are crisp enough to endure the “school bus abuse.” (Having chaperoned many, many field trips as my kids were growing up, there were always a few sandwiches that ended up a bit flat.)
Peanut butter cookies are typically high in fat, sugar and calories, which is what the students want (and the teachers and chaperones dread!) However, a lot of the adult teachers and chaperones have to watch their sugar/ carbohydrate intake. It can be very difficult to include cookies in a diabetic diet. But this recipe will let you enjoy a delightful peanut butter cookie that is low in carbohydrates, fat, and calories, is crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, and has a wonderful peanut butter flavor. And will survive those bus trips! Don’t be surprised when your non-diabetic family members and friends want them, too!
Need more cookies? Simply double, or triple, the recipe!
This recipe is presented as a suggestion and may not be appropriate for all diabetics. Please check with your doctor or dietitian to determine if food items made using this recipe can be safely incorporated into your diet.
The Inside Scoop
The Sciency Stuff: When I set out to make the diabetic friendly version of a peanut butter cookie, I started by making a cookie with traditional cookie ingredients, including flour. Sadly, with little or no sugar, even a tiny amount of flour lessened the peanut butter taste. The sugar-free recipes I found online were crumbly and required copious amounts of water to swallow. (Think: A young child makes a mud-pie, lets it “bake” in the sun, and then bites into it.)
Sugar-free peanut butter is basically peanut butter powder before the moisture and most of the fat is removed. Peanut butter powder is basically peanut butter with the moisture and most of the fat removed. Typical flourless, sugar-free peanut butter cookies add more peanut butter than the cookie can absorb; the peanut butter oil dries and the peanut butter becomes powdery. Thus, a dry, crumbly cookie. By using a mixture of peanut butter powder and sugar-free peanut butter at a ratio of 3:1, I enabled the peanut butter flour to absorb the oil in the peanut butter, thus creating a chewy, not crumbly, cookie.
Sugar, Sugar: Sugar provides not only sweetness, but also bulk, and most importantly for these cookies, moisture. A small amount of brown sugar is included because brown sugar, with its retentive molasses, provides more moisture than white, granulated sugar. I have also found that a very small amount of sugar greatly enhances the sweetness of artificial sweeteners. And brown sugar contributes significantly to the chewiness of these cookies. Applesauce is also included to add moisture, and has a minimal effect on the peanut butter flavor.
Why the crosshatching? I have never been a fan of peanut butter cookies with crosshatching on top. Growing up, those cookies always seemed dry with a burnt peanut butter taste. My other peanut butter cookies (which still need to be posted!) are not crosshatched and have a wonderful chewy texture. However, with these diabetic cookies, the crosshatching is essential for a crisp but chewy cookie because compressing the dough makes a chewy, rather than cakey, texture. But if you prefer a more cakey texture, flatten the dough only slightly and don’t crosshatch!
To prevent the fork used for crosshatching from sticking to the cookie dough, I put a tablespoon of Splenda in a small bowl, and dipped the fork in it. Not quite like the traditional sugar sprinkle on top, but close enough.
Yes, I am trying to make you hungry.
Ready to start baking?
Enjoy!
A diabetic friendly peanut butter cookie that is crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside and has a wonderful peanut butter flavor! At only 10 grams of carbs, 6 grams of fat, and 113 calories per cookie, this cookie can fit into most diabetic diets. And since it does not contain flour, it's also gluten free! Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. If the oil and peanut butter in the sugar free peanut butter have separated, pour the entire contents of the jar into a medium mixing bowl. With an electric mixer, beat until the peanut butter and oil is completely mixed. Measure out 128 grams of the peanut butter and pour into a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Pour the rest of the peanut butter back into the original jar. In a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the peanut butter and eggs; beat until smooth. Add the 48 g./ 2 c. of Splenda, baking soda, light brown sugar, vanilla, and applesauce; beat until smooth. Add the PB2; on slow speed of the stand mixer or by hand, stir in until the PB2 is completely blended into the batter. Measure out 28 g./ 1 ounce for each cookie. Roll dough into a ball and flatten slightly. Place cookies on the baking sheet, spacing cookies 3 inches apart. For a crisp cookie, place 1 T. of Splenda in a small bowl. Dip a fork in the Splenda and crosshatch the top of the cookies, flattening the cookies to approximately 1/8”. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. For crisp cookies, after 10 minutes, turn off the oven, but leave the cookies in the oven for an additional 2 minutes to create a crisp crust. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and cool completely. Enjoy! To store: Store cookies loosely covered at room temperature. The cookies’ flavor, like most cookies (except chocolate chip cookies which I like warm and with melty chocolate chips!) will improve even more over 24 hours. Makes 17 ½ : 28 g./ 1-ounce Cookies Each 1-ounce cookie =113.2 calories, 10.15 g. carbs, 5.71 g. fat.Diabetic Friendly Flourless (Gluten Free) Peanut Butter Cookies
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...Ingredients
Instructions
No Comments