Happy Labor Day weekend!! Or, Happy #ldw, as it is known on social media. See how hip and cool I am?
No matter how old and far away from my “back to school” days I get, Labor Day will never, ever not feel like the end of a carefree summer and the beginning of a busy, serious Fall. I was a giant nerd as a kid, so there was literally nothing more exciting than back to school shopping at Staples, walking up and down the aisles and buying shiny new everything to kick off the new school year. Over time, my passion drifted from gel pens and Lisa Frank notebooks to TI-89 graphing calculators and sleek Jansports (see above re: nerd), but my excitement level never waned. And even though these Berkeley students I live amongst went back a few weeks ago, the newness is still palpable, and I’m enjoying living that new school year feeling a little more than usual this year, albeit vicariously.
I wanted to make something to celebrate back to school and hollah at all those students and moms out there who are rampin’ up this month. To me, back-to-school means busy schedules, anxious excitement, and above all, the need for quick, healthy meals and delicious, easy homemade snacks. And what could be better than the quintessential after-school snack: homemade cookies?
For my perfect back-to-school cookies, I whipped up these flourless salted peanut butter dark chocolate cookies. They are gluten-free (wahoo!), filled with real, non-scary ingredients, and come together in literally (!!!) five minutes. Most importantly, they are a decadent, peanut butter-choco-y, insanely delicious treat. I can’t imagine anything better to find in your lunchbox or on your table at home, served with a tall glass of milk and the promise of a new year. Do it up, kiddos and mommas! You ALL deserve it.
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter (see Note below)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the peanut butter, granulated sugar, egg, baking soda, and salt with a spatula until well-mixed. Stir in the dark chocolate chips. Scoop onto a baking sheet and sprinkle each dough ball with sea salt.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. If you are baking in multiple batches, put the cookie dough in the fridge until ready to scoop and bake.
- I love natural peanut butter, but I don’t recommend it for these cookies. Classic Jif or Skippy is the way to go!
Looking for more back-to-school treats?
Browned Butter Bacon Rice Krispies Treats
