Sometimes I just need a cookie, a cookie that I don't have to feel guilty about eating and can make quickly. You know those days. For me it's a comfort thing, so today I'm going to share a recipe for seriously comforting Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. They're savory and sweet and about as good for you as cookies can be, plus they're gluten- and grain-free, dairy-free, egg-free, Paleo and vegan!

A variation of this recipe is popular on Pinterest, but it contains egg. I wanted to see if I could make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies that were vegan and friendly to those with egg allergies, so I tried the recipe with a "flax egg" instead. It worked! Even without the egg, these cookies are perfectly thick, soft and chewy.

Including the flax egg, these cookies only require five ingredients. They are so simple to make that a batch can be whipped up and out of the oven in less time than it would take you to run to the store - about 20 minutes, to be exact!

Health Benefits & Nutrition Facts

When I said that these cookies are about as good for you as a cookie can be, I meant it. The peanut butter provides about 4 grams of protein per cookie, and according to the World's Healthiest Foods, peanuts are loaded with a lot of other nutrients:

• Peanuts are nutrient dense. They contain the minerals copper and manganese as well as vitamins E, B3, biotin and folate.
• Peanuts contain the same heart-healthy monounsaturated fat found in olive oil, oleic acid.
• Peanuts are a rich source of antioxidants! Peanuts contain more antioxidants than some fruits, one of the antioxidants being resveratrol, the same antioxidant in red wine.

I minimized the sugar in these cookies as much as possible because I wanted to let the health benefits shine through. While some of the egg-containing recipes called for a full cup of sugar, I only used 1/2 cup of sugar. If you prefer your sweets to be really sweet, you could add more sugar. However, I like the savory and sweet combination! I also like that using only 1/2 cup of sugar in the recipe equates to only about a teaspoon of sugar per cookie (about 5 grams, 8 grams if you count the chocolate chips).

Tips & Tricks:

• To make these cookies, I use organic peanut butter from Costco (see my post 30 Organic Pantry Essentials to Buy at Costco). The ingredients are clean and simple - dry roasted peanuts and sea salt - yet it is reasonably priced at around $5 per 28 ounce jar.
• Sunspire 42% Cacao Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips keeps these cookies vegan because they are dairy- and gluten-free. I purchase mine at Natural Grocers, but you can also get them on Amazon.

Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gluten-free | Grain-free | Dairy-free | Egg-free | Vegan | Paleo

Prep Time: 12 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Makes about 18 cookies

Ingredients:

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.








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