I came home for the holiday weekend on Wednesday night last week. Normally I cook more for the holidays but by the time I arrived most of Thanksgiving dinner had already been planned. I decided to contribute some ad hoc cookies because, well, when are extra cookies ever a bad thing?

I’m usually a purist when it comes to peanut butter cookies using this recipe. However I wanted to try one with flour and butter for a different texture to mix things up. The added ingredients make a cookie that chewy rather than crispy and slightly richer. On top I added a chocolate drizzle for the chocolate lovers in my family(but mostly for myself).

Mixed some chopped peanuts or chocolate chips into the batter before baking these for an extra crunch.

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies {Gluten-Free}

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 18 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 14 cookies):

• 3/4 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 Tablespoons creamy or chunky peanut butter
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips(optional)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. In a large bowl mix together the sugar, flour, and salt.
3. In a small bowl, melt together the butter and peanut butter and mix.
4. Pour the melted butter and peanut butter into the flour mixture and mix it together.
5. Beat in the egg until all of the ingredients form a dough.
6. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place them 2-3 inches apart on a greased cookie tray.
7. Bake for 16-18 minutes until the outside is firm to the touch.
8. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely before moving.
9. Melt down the chocolate chips and drizzle the melted chocolate on top of the cookies.

Sandwich Cookies are so much fun. They’re much better than any old cookie; you get two cookies plus a filling. What’s not to love?

My favorite sandwich cookies were always the ones shaped like a maple leaf with a maple crème filling. Sure, they probably were loaded with trans fat and gave people heart attacks but it was the 90s and no one knew about any of that yet. These remind me of those but very much grown up. The cinnamon and spice and salt enhance the sweetness of the maple syrup and the nuttiness of the almond butter and knock it out of the park.

If you want to skip making your own cookies, use a store-bought gingersnap cookie for the base to compliment the filling best.

Maple Almond Butter Sandwich Cookies

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 6 sandwich cookies):

• 12 spiced almond butter cookies
• 6 Tablespoons almond butter
• 3 1/2 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
• Scant 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Lay half of the cookies out bottom-side-up.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the almond butter, butter, maple syrup, cinnamon and salt until it’s smooth and homogenous.
3. Put about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of filling on top of each cookie.
4. Take another cookie and place it bottom-side-down on top of the filling.
5. Store at room temperature until ready to eat.

See? Much better than a cookie.

Pumpkin manages to find its way into everything this time of year. I haven’t quite figured out why it belongs in a latte; cookies make a lot more sense to me.

You really can’t go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie recipe. Pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice add a little bit of fun flavor and color and let you cut back on the butter while still making something delicious.

These are definitely cakey cookies. I find that most pumpkin cookie recipes turn out that way. If you don’t want to make them gluten-free, use cake or all-purpose flour so that they’ll still come out light and airy.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 14 cookies):

• 1 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose gluten-free flour(I used Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 6 Tablespoons pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare a lined baking tray.
2. Sift together the gluten-free flour, sugar, spice, baking soda and salt.
3. Mix in the butter and pumpkin puree well.
4. Beat in the egg until the batter is evenly wet.
5. Add the chocolate chips and fold them in.
6. Taking the dough between your hands, roll it into 1 1/2-inch balls and place them on the baking tray about 2 inches apart.
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the bottoms begin to brown and the top is firm. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before moving them.

‘Tis the season for delicious treats. These would also be excellent with walnuts mixed in, too, or made into cookie sandwiches.