Why add flour to cookies?

[Katballen]

I want to make peanut butter cookies and I trying to decide which recipe to follow. One recipe has flour and one does not. Are there any benefits for using the recipe with flour? Will they last longer? I plan to send the cookies overseas to soldiers in Iraq.

Thank you in advance for your comments.

[JEN10]

I sprinkle a bit of salt on the cookies when they come out of the oven. It adds to that sweet salty taste that makes them so yummy. I also add in some choc chips, HEAVEN

[hotoynoodle]

i just made a batch that i dipped halfway into melted semi-sweet. they look like a mini-version of black -and-white cookies and taste great. i also use salted peanut butter to punch up the flavor.

[hotoynoodle]

traditional pb cookies have a long shelf life and are great for shipping. the flour gives them texture and allows more air between the butter and pb. without flour, they will be more like truffles.

[julesrules]

The flourless pb cookie recipe that I know (the one often discussed here on CH) makes a decent cookie, but I think the traditional flour one would provide more of a "taste of home" to soldiers overseas. Just my two cents, I am not sure how either would keep as I freeze most cookies the day I bake them.

[Katballen]

Thank you! Good point re "taste of home." I will make the PB cookies with flour.

[todao]

Flour provides stability and structure that produces a bite to the cookie that I prefer. Without the flour, the only stabilizer you have for all the sugar and oil is whatever amount of egg you might add and, IMO, that's going to create a very thin and chewy (but it will probably melt in your mouth) cookie.

[Katballen]

Thanks for the info!