I'll chime in for gluten-free recipes too...so we'll be on the "off" topic (lol). There is a 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe, 4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe, Flourless Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe, and all it's variations, including adding chocolate chips to the recipe. 1 c. peanut butter 1 c. sugar 1 egg (1 t. vanilla) optional (1 t. baking soda) optional Blend ingredients and drop by teaspoonfuls on a baking sheet. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 8-minutes. Grainlady note: I've altered this recipe and it makes a more traditional peanut butter cookie than the above recipe produces: 1 c. peanut butter 1/3 c. palm sugar (I use Navitas Naturals Organic Palm Sugar and order it through iHerb.com) 1 egg 1 T. agave nectar (or palm sugar syrup - aka coconut nectar*) 4 T. almond flour 2 T. hi-maize flour (Honeyville Grain or King Arthur) 1 t. soda *Homemade coconut nectar/palm sugar syrup - 3/4 c. palm sugar + 1/4 c. water. Heat a few minutes until dissolved. Much richer flavor than agave nectar. Press the dough balls down with a fork and bake in a 350-degree oven. By using palm sugar and/or agave nectar, they are also low-glycemic and appropriate for most diabetics. I use gluten\-free almond flour a lot and purchase it by the 5\-pound bag from Honeyville Grain (www.honeyvillegrain.com) and coconut flour (on line from \- Wilderness Family, Bob's Red Mill, Tropical Traditions, Coconut Secret, etc.) for baking. For great gluten\-free recipes, I'd suggest "The Gluten\-Free Almond Flour Cookbook" by Elana Amsterdam (www.elanaspantry.com \- where you will find more recipes). We're enjoying the Pecan Shortbread Cookie recipe out of the book this weekend :\-). "Cooking with Coconut Flour" A Delicious Low\-Carb, Gluten\-Free Alternative to Wheat \- by Bruce Fife, N.D. You can find a lot of recipes using coconut flour on\-line. I'd also suggest milling your own grains for other gluten\-free flours. Even a good coffee/spice mill will mill rice flour, and other small grains. When milling rice for baking, use short\- or medium\-grain rice. They have the best baking quality. Long\-grain rice flour is fine as a thickener or dredging meat, but short\- and medium\-grain rice work for thickening and dredging, but are the better choice for baking. Having your own mill would save a lot of money on gluten\-free flours. Plus, fresh\-is\-best when it comes to flour. I develop recipes (including gluten\-free) for a sorghum mill. My mother was gluten\-intolerant, and that got me started developing recipes for her 35\-years ago, when there was little in the way of information or recipes. \-Grainlady

What kind of peanut butter? I often buy peanuts at a reduced price after the holidays and make my own peanut butter in the food processor. I also use powdered peanut butter and reconstitute it with water and add a little coconut oil to smooth out the texture. (Powdered peanut butter is a home food storage staple.) When Dillons (our Kroger associated grocery store) sends me a coupon for a free jar of Kroger peanut butter, I'll use that. The price of an 18-oz. jar of it has more than doubled over the last few years, so it MUST be good...... If I'm feeling wild and crazy I'll make sunflower seed butter and use that for something different. I'm not one of those "picky" people who choose Jif - because it normally doesn't fit my food budget. We regularly use 18-oz. of peanut butter per month without using it for cookies. This is our newest favorite peanut butter cookie recipe.... PEANUT BUTTER CRUNCH COOKIES Heat or microwave to liquefy: 1 stick of butter 3/4 c. peanut butter Add remaining ingredients: 1 t. baking soda pinch of salt 2 eggs 1 c. unsalted dry roasted peanuts 1/2 c. raw or roasted sunflower seeds 1/2 c. almond flour (or wheat flour) 1/2 c. palm sugar (or brown sugar) 1/2 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips 1/2 c. cacao nibs (optional) Use an electric mixer to blend. Use a #50 portion scoop to portion cookies and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Press dough down slightly. Bake in a preheated 375-degree F. oven for 12-minutes. -Grainlady

From Baking 911 Each type of fat used in cookie recipes separately affects the cookie's texture and taste. Generally, the use of butter means a flatter, crispier cookies because it allows the dough to spread as it cooks on the hot cookie sheet. Cookies made with shortening will not spread, however all shortening will give you a cookie without a lot of taste. This approach gives you the best of both worlds: shortening is not as sensitive to shifts in temperature and the butter gives a lot of flavor. Shortening: Least spread / Least flavor, however can use butter flavored. Because of its higher melting point (98 to 100 degrees F) than butter, cookies keep their shape as it bakes, yielding a puffier more cake-like treat. Stick Butter: Medium spread / Best flavor. Because of the lower the melting point of butter (92 to 98 degrees F) than shortening, cookies spread and become flatter and crispier as the result. To help reduce cookie spread when using butter, freeze the formed dough on the cookie sheets. When you place the frozen cookie dough immediately in the oven, the fat will stay colder longer and when baked, the cookie will retain its shape better. For flavor, there is no substitute for butter. Cookies made with butter have outstanding taste and a finely grained, often crisp texture. Butter also helps cookies to keep well and maintain their flavor. I recommend using unsalted butter in baking. Stick Margarine: Most spread / Some flavor Vegetable oils: cookies are softer than those made with butter or margarine.

So you substituted almond flour for the 3 c. AP flour, and Swerve for the sugar, but didn't add xanthan or anything else as additional binder? The recipe contains so much "flour" that I believe additional binder would be required. About the chill time... assuming you did chill for 1+ hours, I suspect you would have better luck if you made into balls and then chilled. In general, it's better to bake gluten-free at slightly lower temps and for longer time. ETA: I'm not convinced that key lime with all almond flour would be a good flavor combo anyway.