Unfortunately, there was no Christmas cake left by the time our neighbours popped in for a new year gathering, so I made some peanut butter cookies and some raw brownie. My neighbour is also coeliac (we’re everywhere!) so it was nice to be able to offer a choice of gluten free snacks.

Peanut butter cookies are both a surprise and a delight, in terms of how easy they are to make and the fact that the ingredients actually turn into a cookie. The first time I made these, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but they are delicious and they didn’t last long, which is always the true test. They’re naughty though – a lot of evil sugar!

1 cup peanut butter (most recipes say plain but I use crunchy)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg, beaten lightly
chocolate chips (optional)
salt for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat the oven to 175C and prepare a baking sheet or two with some greaseproof paper. Then mix all the ingredients except the salt until well combined, and spoon tablespoonsful of the mix onto the greaseproof paper, leaving a good inch between the cookies because they spread when cooking. I rolled my dough into balls then flattened them a bit with a fork to give the textured top.

Sprinkle salt on the top of the cookies if that’s your thing, then bake for 10-15 mins, until they just start to go golden round the edges.

Cool on a wire rack then enjoy. I think this mix made about 20.

The first time I did these, I made them plain, but got requests for chocolate chips! So I’ve just popped in a bit of Green and Black’s milk chocolate chopped into bits. 2 or 3 rows – I can’t remember.