Gluten-Free Sumbitches

... Say what?

Yes. "Sumbitches".

In case you don't get the reference, allow me to explain.

I love the TV show How I Met Your Mother. I started watching it about two years ago, right after I moved and before I had found a full time job. At that point in my life, I had the freedom to watch episode after episode of a show in between job applications. With How I Met Your Mother, I did a total TV binge and watched seasons 1-6 within a few weeks. When Mike and I started dating, it was the first TV show I made him watch from the beginning with me. We are both now obsessed.

Anyways, in the season premiere of the ninth and final season, Lily meets the yet unnamed "Mother" on a train to Barney and Robin's wedding. (Should I have said "Spoiler Alert"? Oops...) Lily is upset and the "Mother" offers her a cookie. The "Mother" states that she likes how trusting Lily is, since she ate a cookie from a complete stranger that could have been poisoned or drugged. Lily replies with something to the extent of "I don't care. There's chocolate and peanut butter and caramel in these sumbitches." The "Mother" then responds, "I call them 'Sumbitches'!"

Hence the name of the cookie.

You can actually find recipes all over the internet for "Sumbitches". I am not the first nor will I be the last to post a recipe for them. However, most of the recipes I saw were for traditional flour-based cookies. Lately, I've been having some tummy issues that I won't get into because... well... gross. I tried the whole gluten-free things for a while. I didn't really notice much of a change, so I'm thinking that's not the cause of my woes. But I did discover some really yummy recipes during that time. One came from my high school friend Ellen. She posted a recipe on my Facebook page for peanut butter cookies that are 5 ingredients, quick to make and gluten-free. I've made them several times since then and everyone who eats them falls in love. So I had the thought to alter them just slightly to make my own version of the HIMYM Sumbitches.

And ye freakin' gods... they are heaven.

One little warning from personal experience: These cookies are sugar bombs. There is a ton of sugar in these babies. I'm sure that you can add less sugar or use a sugar substitute. But if you eat too many of these on the original recipe, be prepared for a blood sugar spike and then an intense crash and burn.

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Caramel Cookies 

aka Sumbitches

(original recipe from Ellen)

1 cup creamy peanut butter, preferably natural

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

chocolate caramel candy, frozen to be easier to work with (I used the about 4 Ghirardelli dark chocolate with sea salt caramel squares.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Mix peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla in a bowl until well combined.

3. Chop the chocolate caramels into bite sized pieces. I chopped my Ghiraidelli squares into fourths.

4. With clean hands, scoop a tablespoon or so of dough. Push the candy in the center and wrap the dough around it so it is completely surrounded. Form into a slightly squished ball shape.

5. Place on a baking sheet. They expand a bit while cooking, so leave some room for that. 

6. Bake in center rack of the oven for about 10 minutes or until just starting to brown.

7. Remove from oven. Let cool a few minutes before trying to move from the baking sheet. I used parchment paper, so I just carefully picked up it up by the edges and took the cookies off the hot baking sheet still on the parchment. I also currently own only one baking sheet. So I just used a second sheet of parchment paper to start a second batch while the first batch cooled.

8. Repeat 4-7 until dough is gone. 

9. Enjoy!

Makes approx. 16 cookies.

(I failed to take pictures as I was making them, but the recipe is pretty easy to follow without picture step-by-steps. Still, I'll try to remember next time I make them and then update the blog.)