You’ll never believe these Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich Cookies are grain-free and gluten-free. Or that they are ready in 30 minutes! The best of childhood flavors in one tasty dessert.
We have been spring breaking for the past week. Taking a spontaneous road trip through the more rural areas of Colorado and New Mexico for a break from the grind of the past few months. Between a new job for my husband, college acceptance and planning for my daughter (in addition to everything leading up to both kids graduating from their current schools this year) it’s been stressful, no two ways about it. Stepping away for some rest and fun out of the norm has been just what the doctor ordered.
Have you ever eaten a particular food at a restaurant or when traveling, and wished you could make it when you were at home? It happens to me on every trip. A favorite recipe that is fast and fun was inspired by a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico over Spring Break a few years ago.
After a dense session of museum going, we plopped down at the Museum Hill Café for some brunch. Though stuffed to the gills, when the server offered dessert options a specific gluten-free treat flagged my attention like a crazy person late for an airplane flight hailing a cab in New York City: Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Cookies. Say, what?????
It was a serendipitous moment of genius realized. Why on earth had I never seen one of these in my explorations as a food blogger? It’s such an obvious combination of perfection. My love affair with peanut butter is a long and torrid one, starting as a child with me sneaking a handful when my parents were asleep and taking it back to my bed to eat underneath the covers. What a laundry delight that must have been. I’ve loved anything that includes peanut butter since.
As with most adults, I gave up peanut butter and jelly sandwiches somewhere along the road to adulthood. The mere mention of this dessert cookie catapulted me backward to childhood with lazy, carefree summer days, picnic lunches, running through tall grass and the rest of the romantic images of our youth we’ve long forgotten.
The peanut butter and jelly sandwich cookies arrived at our table and they were huge. ‘Too big for one person’, I declared. ‘Nonsense’, proclaimed my daughter, ‘no such thing’. We did split it four ways and that rich few bites satisfied my craving. Until I got back to my own kitchen in Boulder.
My goal for my adaptation of the cookie was a ‘no share’ size that was just right for one. I chose grape jelly as that seems a classic and something I ate only in my youth. I experimented with a thin layer of jelly and one that wasn’t too much but bulged a bit when eating the sandwich treat, teasing as though it would fall out but not enough to quite do so.
That version was the delight of my eager taste testers! These are easy to make and quite fast too. It can all be done in around 30 minutes! It is naturally gluten-free with no flour used and perfect with a big, cold glass of milk. Natch.
It’s hard to believe cookies could be made without any type of flour but these Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Cookies recipe is a perfect example of how to dodge grains and still have a fantastic cookie in texture and flavor. The peanut butter flavor is rich and true, and pairs wonderfully with your favorite jam. They are not fussy cookies to make and we all love that, right?
30-Minute Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Cookie
Ingredients
- 1 cup smooth Peanut Butter; natural , peanuts only (no sugar or salt)
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Egg , lightly beaten
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ¼ cup – ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons of Grape Jelly (or preferred flavor fruit jelly, not jam)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.
- Using a mixer, combine the peanut butter, sugar, vanilla, egg and salt. Mix at medium speed until it is fully combined.
- Scoop in tablespoon portions (a cookie scoop works great for this), forming a ball and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Gently flatten and mark with fork tines in a crisscross pattern on top of each cookie.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the sheet for 10 minutes. Remove them onto a cooling rack to fully cool before making the sandwiches.
- Place 1 to 1 ½ teaspoon of jelly on the bottom (flat) side of one cookie and spread it evenly. Place the flat side of a second cookie on the jelly. Note: adding 1 ½ teaspoon of jelly will give a thicker layer that may squeeze out a bit when eating it; that was a preference of some of my taste testers!
This delicious recipe was originally published in April 2015 and has been updated in 2017.
Mary France says
What a fun idea, I never though of putting the two together quite like that but I love the idea!