Puffy Little Clouds of Peanut Buttery, Chocolatey Deliciousness

I feel it is my duty to share this incredible cookie recipe with everyone. It's been in my files forever (it's from Family Circle 01/20/04!), but I just made it for the first time last night. It's fast, easy, and even gluten-free! So this post--and these cookies--are dedicated to Susie and Kate:


1 cup peanut butter, chunky or creamy
1 cup packed light- or dark-brown sugar
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 oz.)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In medium-size bowl, beat together the peanut butter, brown sugar, egg and baking soda until the mixture is smooth and well blended. Stir in chips until evenly distributed.
3. Drop the dough by slightly rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing the mounds about 2 inches apart.
4. Bake one baking sheet at a time in the oven until the cookies are puffed and slightly golden but still soft to the touch, about 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for about 5 minutes. Then transfer the cookies to the wire rack; let cool completely.
   

NOTE: I used one of those little cookie scoops and baked mine for a little over 9 minutes until they were just turning brown on the top and around the bottom edges. Don't cheat on the cooling time, though. If you try to pick them up after the 5 minutes on the sheet, they just crumble. But after another 10 minutes of cooling on a rack, they are PERFECT!!! I think these would be great (if not better) with milk chocolate chips or a Hershey kiss on top. Enjoy!