Sugar-free (and gluten-free) Peanut Butter Cookies

These cookies are the easiest and most straightforward recipe I've got: peanut butter + egg + sugar = delicious. In this case the paste made from the sugar and peanut butter constitutes the dough of the cookie that is held together by egg. If I use natural peanut butter, my theory is that the cookies will require slightly less of the sweetener (splenda cup-for-cup sweetener + splenda brown sugar in this case). I've found, in the past, when working with anything being removed from a recipe or any healthier take on a recipe is called for, flavor has to be added when flavor is removed, so I've decided to try a half batch of these guys with a little vanilla, perhaps to cut the fake sweetener taste.

Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup natural peanut butter, creamy-style
1/3 cup splenda brown sugar
1/3 cup splenda sweetener
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg yolk

I find the natural peanut butter, while it seems more liquid-y than regular peanut butter initially (especially if you're opening a new jar), it definitely requires less dry ingredients in the end, hence the volumetrically deficient sugar substitution and the use of only the yolk of the egg.

Mix everything together until a ball of dough forms. The dough should be stiff and easily hold its shape in your hand. For the first batch, I flattened balls of dough with a fork dipped in splenda (the same way I would with the normal recipe). However, something about cup-for-cup sweeteners seems to hinder the elasticity of the dough, making it puffy and crumbly rather than producing the thin, chewy cookie texture I like.

Now for the second batch, I flattened them with the palm of my hand, almost as flat as I could make them, then ran the tines of the fork across to get that familiar pattern (we do, after all, eat first with our eyes).

I cooked both batches for about 10 minutes on 325. This will require further experimentation with liquid ingredients to help the dough become less elastic when in contact with heat. I think the second batch, though, had a marginal measure of success. I see more recipes to come... definitely one with a little fat and flour. I think those may help.