Better Than a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, Peanut Butter Cookies

Yep, I would've sworn these cookies tasted a lot like peanut butter cups. My tasters disagreed. They said these are better than a peanut butter cup. I offered to lower the carbs by removing the chocolate dipped exterior but they insisted I not alter a thing. So here goes my homage to a very simple, yet crowd pleasing peanut butter cookie. These are pretty low carb as well. I loved them so much that I'll be making them again this weekend. I didn't take a lot of photos because I'd have sworn these would be awful. Go figure!

TIPS:

• You can take the flour out and I promise they'll be fine, just not as high
• Not dipping these in chocolate reduces the carb content (see recipe below for details). I liked them without the chocolate dip
• Use any nut butter you like, it doesn't have to be peanut butter

RECIPE:

Makes 8 cookies

Serving size: 1

Chocolate dipped: Cal 201, Total Fat 12.8 g, Saturated Fat 4.8 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Chol 3 mg, Sodium 69 mg, Potassium 76 mg, Carb 18.6 g, Fiber 1.5 g, Sugar 13.9 g, Protein 5.2 g -- 4 WW points/cookie

Without Chocolate Dip: Cal 125, Total Fat 8.6 g, Saturated Fat 1.9 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Chol 0 mg, Sodium 58 mg, Potassium 23 mg, Carb 10.2 g, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 6.6 g, Protein 4.1 g --2 WW points/cookie

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 c low fat peanut butter (I used Peanut Butter & Co Smooth Operator)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon of flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons egg substitute or beaten egg

2 tablespoons mini semi sweet chocolate chips

4 ounces of dark chocolate, melted (omit to make these even skinnier)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350. Cream together the peanut butter, sugar, flour and baking powder (the dough will be stiff at first). Add the egg subsitute and mix well. Fold in mini chocolate chips. On a parchment lined cookie sheet, drop the dough by rounded tablespoons. Using a fork, push down slightly and make a criss cross pattern. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. They will feel firm when done. Let cool on pan for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, melt 4 ounces of dark chocolate in a microwave. Melting tips: reduce microwave to 50% power and heat for 30 seconds. Stir, then if not melted, microwave in 15 second intervals at 50% power, stirring at each interval until nearly melted. Avoid the chocolate melting completely, which can mean it's actually burning. Stir to completely melt chocolate. Dip 1/2 of the cookie in chocolate and set on wire rack to set. Then, eat up!