Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

One thing that I miss a lot about not eating wheat is cookies. Now the fact that I can't eat cookies is probably really good for my health, but sometimes  you just have to have a cookie! I love peanut butter cookies and these are even better because they are peanut butter and jelly cookies which satisfies both the need for cookies and for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

Ingredients for the cookies:

• 1 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Ingredients for jelly:

• 1 quart strawberries or any type of berry (I also added some blueberries that were about to go bad)
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup white granulated sugar

Start by making the jelly. Slice the strawberries and combine them with the rest of the ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once the fruit is soft, puree it in a blender or in the pot with a hand blender. When the mixture is smooth, return it to the stove and bring to a boil. Let it boil for about 10 min, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and transfer to a container that won't melt. Let cool to room temperature. This will make a lot more than you will need for the cookies but it is great for putting in yogurt or on top of ice cream.

For the cookies: Preheat the oven to 300 F. Grease a couple of cookie sheets and set aside. In a medium-sized bowl using an electric hand mixer, cream the peanut butter with the sugars until well combined. Add the egg, mixing until combined, followed by the baking soda. Make small balls of the mixture, place them on the cookie sheet, and push a small indent in the top of the cookie (don't push down to far or the middle of the cookie will fall out). Spoon some jelly into the indent and place the cookies in the oven. Bake until the cookies are golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Let the cookies cool before taking them off the sheet

Notes:
The cookies will spread out as they cook and the jelly will thicken so a little ball of mixture produces a pretty big cookie. I also let my cookies cool in the refrigerator after I put them on the cookie sheet while the jelly was cooling. This helped the jelly stay in the indent instead of seeping out. Makes about 18 cookies.

I bet you can't tell they're wheat free! Enjoy!