Makeover Monday: Low Carb Peanut Butter Cookies

This recipe is dedicated to my little sister.  I have a totally random memory of some failed attempts by my sister and me to make peanut butter cookies.  We had a recipe that we tried a few times, but we could never get these seemingly simple cookies to turn out right.  For whatever reason, I remember I blamed it on the amount of flour in the cookies.  Even at the time I liked to think of myself as being pretty handy in the kitchen so I was really disappointed I couldn't make my own peanut butter cookies and didn't try again for many years.

Imagine my excitement when a few years ago I found a recipe for peanut butter cookies that didn't have flour!  This is one of those recipes I saw somewhere and just jotted down, so I don't remember where I got it.  But I have made it several times and these little cookies have turned out perfectly every time.  Because these cookies don't have flour, I have thought for a long time that if they were made with Splenda instead of sugar they would be a great low carb cookie and perfect for people with diabetes.

So last time I made my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe, I just subbed Splenda for the white sugar, and Splenda Brown Sugar Blend for the regular brown sugar.  As I said before, this recipe has always turned out, and this time was no exception.  This was the only thing I changed.  I didn't tell my husband about it, and he still loved them.  In just the last few months I have done a lot of cookie experimenting with recipes such as Chocolate Reese's Pieces Cookies, Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Toffee Crunch Cookies.  But sometimes it's nice to go back to a classic!

 

If you don't want to use Splenda, you can always use regular sugar.  Splenda No Calorie Sweetener is substituted cup for cup for sugar.  Splenda Brown Sugar Blend is a mix of Splenda and brown sugar.  You use half as much of it as you would use regular brown sugar.  So if you want to make flour-less peanut butter cookies with regular brown sugar, use 1/2 cup.  Swapping the Splenda for the brown sugar saves about 200 calories, while swapping the Splenda for the white sugar saves about 350 calories.  I will caution that the 1 cup of peanut butter in these cookies does provide 1600 total calories, so these aren't calorie free.  But it's a start!

These are not only delicious and low carb, but because they don't have flour, they are gluten free.  And they are easy!  There are only 5 ingredients.  I make it with my hand-held electric mixer so I don't even need to bust out my big stand mixer.  

The first step is to beat an egg for a minute or so until it is foamy.

Then add Splenda, vanilla and peanut butter and beat until well blended.  

That's it for making the dough!  Now just form the dough into balls.  I try to make mine about the size of ping pong balls.  The dough can be a little sticky, so wet your hands as needed.  Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Then gently flatten each cookie.  I use the bottom of a drinking glass.  To get the criss-cross on the top of the cookies, use a fork.  Again, the dough can be sticky so wet the glass and fork when you need to.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Let 'em cool a little bit before eating.  And enjoy a lower calorie treat! 

Low Carb Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/2 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetner

1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup creamy peanut butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat egg in large bowl with mixer until foamy.  Add remaining ingredients; beat until well blended.  Shape into 1-inch balls.  Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet.  Flatten gently with fork.  Bake 10 minutes or until lightly browned.