I made (subtle) peanut butter cookies!

Hi friends,

While my cooking skills seem to be plateauing at mediocre, my baking skills continue to get better. I made peanut butter cookies from a recipe that I was able to successfully adapt from other recipes. Not that novel of an idea for most of you, but when I do this, sometimes the results are disastrous!

Let me warn you that this recipe is not REALLY rich in peanut butter taste. They are definitely peanut butter cookies, but the flavor of the PB isn't overpowering. It's almost like 3/4th PB cookie and 1/4th sugar cookie taste-wise. I didn't do this on purpose (of course), I just used as much peanut butter as I had hoping that it would all turn out OK. I think this might be my favorite recipe so far, though!


Here's the plan:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Baking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
   
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat together butter, peanut butter, sugars, and vanilla extract. Look for a creamy texture (after a minute or so), and make sure the brown sugar hasn't clumped anywhere (you may need to use a fork to break those up). Beat in the egg well.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together your dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Pour dry ingredients into batter and use hand mixer.
   
4. Put dough and baking pan in refrigerator for an hour.
5. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls with your hand and put on baking sheet. Score each ball with a fork, making the pattern of your choice (I opted for classic hash marks). Bake in the oven at 375 F for about 9-10 minutes. Cookies should be just beginning to turn a light brown on the edges. Take them out earlier rather than later because a dry PB cookie is no good!
   
6. Let cookies sit for 5 minutes on baking sheet and then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
7. Eat while hot with a glass of milk!

Let me know if you try this recipe and what you think. They were a hit with everyone who tried them, including my husband who groans when I make any peanut butter recipe.

Love,
K