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Crushing On Averie Sunshine of Averie Cooks and Flourless Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies are gluten-free and delicious | FoodieCrush.com

If you’re a blogger, chances are your blog has received a comment—or many comments—on your blog posts by Averie Sunshine of Averie Cooks. If you’re a baker, you’ve probably discovered one of her many sweet treats in online searches or through many of her super popular Pinterest-favorited recipes.

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Prolific, dedicated and one of the hardest working bloggers who makes her blog her business, Averie of Averie Cooks creates recipes that put the sweet in “sweet tooth” like this Flourless Chewy Cinnamon Sugar Peanut Butter Cookie recipe that she’s letting me share at the end of this post, baked from her new cookbook Peanut Butter Comfort.

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Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies 09 FoodieCrush.com

When her blogging began in 2009, Averie originally authored the blog Love Veggies and Yoga, aligning her lifestyle as a vegetarian and avid yoga enthusiast. There she shared yoga poses that went far beyond the Downward Dog, (Half Bound Lotus Standing Forward Bend anyone?) and stretches most humans envision only at a sidewalk pretzel cart. Or maybe that’s just me.

As a vegetarian, she also featured healthy foods she herself ate everyday, green foods and whole grains which gained her a happy and devout following and recipes that still reside in her archives today.

But she soon faced a dilemma, or more candidly, she became bored with her recipe creations and their wholesomeness. That’s when she started including desserts and baking recipes on her blog, and soon rediscovered the passion that motivated her to start blogging in the first place.

Since changing her blog name to Averie Cooks, there has been no looking back.

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Averie’s attention to trends—like creating decadent desserts that hop on the popular coconut oil bandwagon with her Fluffy Vegan Coconut Oil Banana Muffins—is a talent you’ll see in every blog post Averie concocts, inspiring home cooks far and wide.

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Or creating sweet treats from crazy new flavor combinations like Lofthouse-Style Soft Peanut Butter Chip Sugar Cookies with Peanut Butter Frosting. Now THAT is a tasty mouthful.

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And with just one jaw-dropping glance at this photo, it’s no wonder Averie’s Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies was Pinned over 75,000 times in just 3 months.

With a dogged work ethic of cooking, baking, photography and posting 5 or more times per week in addition to consistently supporting the blogging community by visiting countless other blogs, Averie has now gone from blog to book with the release of her first cookbook Peanut Butter Comfort, with over 100 over-the-top peanut butter recipes.

Over-the-top recipes, yes indeed. Peanut Butter Comfort has them in droves. Peanut Butter Cocoa Krispies S’mores Bars, Nutella and Peanut Butter Marbled Brownies and Peanut Butter Cup Peanut Butter Banana Bread are just a sampling of her drool-inspiring recipes.

Want savory? Check out her recipe for Spicy Peanut Butter and Jelly Sweet Potato Fries. Radically genius.

Let’s get down to business with the creator of all of this radness and learn a bit more about what makes Averie cook. Thank you Averie for being a favorite foodie crush.

1. Describe your blog in 3 words:
Desserts, sweets, baking.

2. If you could be one food blogger other than yourself, who would you be?
Do Ina Garten or Alton Brown count as food bloggers?

3. Which 3 blogs do you follow/are obsessed with/can’t live a day without?
This is such a hard question because I read a ton of blogs. Over 200 in my Vienna (if you’re on a Mac and still haven’t found your perfect Google Reader replacement, I love Vienna, but I digress). I have a core group of about 15 or 20 that I read daily. My amazing friend Sally of Sally’s Baking Addiction and I have really similar tastes in food, I love reading my friend Marla’s blog when I need less sugar and want to be inspired photographically, and I always tune into what Jessica of How Sweet It Is made.

4. What is the one kitchen tool you could never give up?
A big, sharp knife.

5. What dish are you obsessed with mastering that you just can’t get quite right?
I’m definitely not obsessed with it, but I am horrible at cooking eggplant. Not that this matters in life, but I can’t get it right. Rubbery, an oil-sponge, just never turns out for me. I am also not the world’s greatest piping bag person or cake decorator. I could use some cake decorating classes.

6. What did you have for dinner last night?
A big salad with edamame, cucumbers, and the best little sweet cherry tomatoes; popcorn with coconut oil, nutritional yeast, and stevia; a Vegan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffin, washed down with a couple glasses of champagne.

7. What’s one secret talent outside of the kitchen nobody knows about you:
It’s not necessarily secret because in the earlier days of my blog I talked a lot about it, but I’m a certified yoga teacher (not currently teaching) and have been since 2001. I have had a daily yoga practice for over 13 years and while I could literally stand on my head and blow bubbles, it’s so much more than how many times I can wrap my ankle around my head. Yoga grounds me and centers me and I could not imagine my life without it.

8. You’re happiest when cooking/eating:
Peanut butter anything! Preferably paired with chocolate, caramel, or something drippy, gooey, and very under-baked.

9. In the earlier incarnation of your blog you featured mainly healthy lifestyle tips and recipes. Now your blog showcases amazingly delicious sweet treats nobody can resist! Why did you make the change and how does living healthy influence your sweet treat creations?
To be blunt, no one really cares about kale salads after the first 37 that are posted. I was running out of ways to make ‘healthy food’ have a wow factor, and was frankly getting bored myself. And if I was bored with my food, I’m sure my readers were, too. I naturally like to bake and just started posting desserts and my blog felt fun again to me, and I ran with it from there.

While I am mindful that the things I make aren’t always the healthiest, I view them as dessert and a special treat. Everything in moderation. Make it, have a piece or two, and donate the rest if it’s particularly gluttonous. And then there are other recipes that are much healthier and many are vegan or gluten-free.

After years of living as vegan and gluten-free (I’m not currently either), it comes fairly naturally to me to cook this way or give people easy substitutions to make a recipe vegan or gluten-free or adapt it to fit into their lifestyle. But healthy recipes aren’t really my blog’s focus; making food with a wow factor that tastes amazing is. Sometimes they turn out to be pretty healthy, sometimes not so much.

10. The one secret ingredient to your success is:
There’s no secret here: Hard work. I outwork just about everyone I know. I routinely put in 20 hour days. I do my best work from midnight to 5am when the rest of the world is sleeping. No interruptions, and I can power out cookbook edits, blog posts, photo editing, and get things baked and ready to go for a photo shoot when daylight breaks. It won’t always be this way, but for now, it is. And when I’m 90 I’ll look back on this time and be grateful that I had a full life.

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And now you can win a copy of Peanut Butter Comfort for your own baking delights. Just fill in the info in the widget below with one or more entries to be entered to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

After looking through Peanut Butter Comfort I had the hardest time choosing just one recipe to make and share with you.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies 02 FoodieCrush.com

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies 07 FoodieCrush.com

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies 14 FoodieCrush.com

As a kid I was never a big fan of peanut butter, but as an adult, I find myself craving a good old PB&J at least once a week. On toast. That’s just how I roll.

So needless to say, peanut butter cookies have never been a craving of mine. Wishful thinking never did create that animal attraction I have to chocolate, coconut and fudge.

But these cookies are something all together different than those I ever had before. Chewy. Moist. And beyond decadent. Which makes me a PB convert. As an adult of course.

Bonus: Flourless = gluten-free. More cookies for the masses.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies are gluten-free and delicious | FoodieCrush.com

Print

Flourless Chewy Cinnamon Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar packed
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar for rolling
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon for rolling

Instructions

  1. Add the first six ingredients to a stand up mixer on medium-high speed and beat for 1 to 2 minutes with a paddle attachment. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then bear for 1 minute more or just until smooth and ingredients are combined. Place mixing bowl in the refrigerator for 1 hour, allowing to rest and chill.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  3. Combine the 1/4 cup granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
  4. Using a small cookie scoop, form balls and dredge each one through the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Dredge the balls through the mixture twice to create a thicker cinnamon-sugar coating will produce cookies with more texture and more intense cinnamon sugar flavor.
  5. Place balls onto a Silpat-lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Flatten the mounts slightly with the tines of a fork, creating a crisscross pattern.
  6. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes. The bottoms will have set, but the tops may look under-done but they will set up as they cool. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheets for at least 10 minutes or until they've firmed up. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Recipe Notes

reprinted with permission from Averie Sunshine

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Heidi thank you so much for this awesome post, the sweet things you said, the detail and time you took to do this; for hosting a giveaway, making a recipe, my goodness I am honored and so very grateful! Thank you, thank you!! Your cookies look amazing. I would like to reach through the screen right now and grab one. Wow! Pinning! :)

    Reply

  3. My favorite cookie is soft gooey peanut butter chocolate chip. Actually anything with peanut butter and chocolate will taste wonderful!

    Reply

  5. I recently discovered Averie on FB and love her recipes! I just tried several of her bars over the weekend and the co workers loved them! Going to make some for the deployed BF this weekend.

    Reply

  6. I love all kinds of cookies. Too hard to pick one! Chocolate chip, peanut butter, sugar, thumbprint, ginger snaps, etc……..

    Reply

  11. Oooh, peanut butter everything is so good. I enjoyed learning more about how Averie Cooks got to where it is – I read it regularly. it’s encouraging to know that other bloggers work to find the perfect fit that they are passionate about.

    Reply

  17. Averie is incredibly! That women is a workhorse and so inspiring and also so incredibly nice! I love reading you mini interview and find out a few more fun details I did not know. Great post!

    Reply

  18. What a wonderful interview with Averie! Averie, thank you so much for listing my blog as one of your favorites. You know that means a lot to me. Especially since your blog was one of the only blogs I read before I started my own. Heidi, what gorgeous photographs of Averie’s cookies! I’ve had that recipe dog-eared since I got the book. Dee-lish!

    Reply

  20. I LOVE all cookies but if I had to pick one, it would be my chocolate chip Nutella cookies! Upon looking at these scrumptious PB cookies, they just could become my new favourite! :-)

    Reply

  23. My favorite type of cookie, hands down, is my sister’s chocolate chip cookies. She doesn’t even use a recipe! She just throws a bunch of ingredients in a bowl, mixes it, puts spoonfuls on a tray and puts them in the oven. And she never sets the timer. And somehow, they are always perfect!

    Reply

  26. My favorite type of cookies is chocolate chip pecan cookies!! They are both chewy and salty and sweet! Thank you very much for this giveaway!

    Reply

  28. i love momofuku milk bar’s “compost” cookie — i guess i’m just a throw-in-the-kitchen-sink kinda girl. but chewy peanut butter and crisp gingersnap are my two standard faves. all of averie’s cookie recipes are great, i’m a regular reader of her blog and when i’m in a baking mood her recipes are my go-to.

    Reply

  34. I love all cookies, but right now my favorite is flourless peanut butter cookies, so I’ll have to try this version!

    Reply

  40. These look perfect for fall weather, will definitely pop these into the oven over the weekend, thanks for the great recipe!

    Reply

  51. Oh my gosh!! I am a Cinnamon FREAK!! I never even thought of putting my two loves together!! Thank you so much! Now to figure when to make these!

    Reply

  54. My favorite type of cookie is one that has a peanut butter base and a lot of add-ins like walnuts, oats, chocolate chips, and dried fruit like cranberries or blueberries.

    Reply

  61. I so loved this interview! Averie is truly the hardest working hard worker out there: I really appreciate her ethic as well as her end results. Anyone who can do what she does with peanut butter deserves a massive pat on the back!!

    Reply

  65. My kids love my peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies….I don’t personally eat many sweets, but I LOVE to bake them!

    Reply

  66. I honestly don’t know if I have a favorite type of cookie — I love so many! Monster cookies loaded with candy, or the white chocolate pomegranate cookies from Two Peas & Their Pod…or i have a great recipe for pb cookies with chocolate chips that are SO SOFT. I need to try this recipe now!

    Reply

  80. I have made Averie’s Lofthouse-Style Peanut Butter Chip Cookies and they are amazing! They have recently become one of my favorite cookies, right behind the classic chocolate chip cookies.

    Reply

  82. OMG. I had no idea there was a cookbook. I have baked a couple of recipes via pinterest from Avery Cooks. Must have cookbook! Thanks for this great blogpost, so informative in so many ways ;)

    Reply

  97. Love the cookies… and I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER!!! Ok, my embarassing secret… there are currently 6 jars of peanut butter in this house right now.

    Reply

  101. I do bedlieve all the conceepts you have offered in
    your post. They’re really convincing and can certainly work.

    Nonetheless, the posts are very brief for starters.

    Could you please extend them a little from
    next time? Thanks for the post.

    Reply

  102. I didn’t love the cinnamon and PB combo, but I did love the cookie recipe rolled in plain sugar. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

    Reply

  103. I was so excited to try these but when I put the ingredients in my Kitchen Aid, it turned into this crumbly mixture and never formed into a dough. I stuck it in the fridge like the recipe said, but afterwards, it was still very crumbly. I was able to use my hands to form them into balls, but couldn’t squash them down because they would still crumble. They still tasted good, but I’m wondering if you have any idea what I could have done wrong. I followed the directions.

    Reply

    • Trisha mine turned out the same. My dough was incredibly crumbly and I couldn’t squash them down because they totally fell apart. When I rolled the balls my hands were literally dripping with oil! They didn’t flatten and bake like the picture, but I’m sure they will still be very tasty – especially with that cinnamon sugar! Maybe we used the wrong kind of peanut butter?

      Reply

  105. I made these with almond butter instead of peanuts and its so good! I ate them for breakfast with some Greek yogurt and bananas this morning. Check out my adapted version at babusbookofyum.com :)

    Reply

  106. I wanted so badly to like these! Mine look nothing like these. The batter was so greasy/oily. Did I do something wrong? Overbeat it? I followed the directions exactly but I sure wish they looked like the photo. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

    Reply

  107. These look so good and I am planning on making them tonight, but I had 2 questions, I HOPE someone can answer…. Can I use natural peanut butter AND can i refrigerate them overnight? Trying to plan and prep ahead ;-)

    Reply

  108. We made these tonight and loved them–even our almost-2-year-old nephew liked them! Very simple recipe; I made them with dark brown sugar (because that’s what we had) and they were great. Thanks for sharing!! :)

    Reply

  109. I used organic PB and these didn’t turn out well at all :( The dough and cookies were a crumbly mess like one poster above described.

    Reply

  110. It’s actually a cool and helpful piece of info. I am happy that you simply shared
    this helpful information with us. Please stay us
    informed like this. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply

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  10. […] pinned for Flourless Chewy Cinnamon Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies (originally shared on the blog Foodie Crush). We had all of the ingredients on hand and it sounded delicious, so it was an easy choice. The […]

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