peanut butter cookies

Baking - PB Cookies - 10-7-07 (5)

All right, I’ve been a hypocrite enough! I’ve said I’ll be eating healthy. I’ve banished white sugar and white rice from the household, but I let white flour linger and it’s not budging. I won’t let it go! I’ve tried eating grains that are on the low glycemic scale – perfect for breakfast right before your arduous 45 minute spin class. I’ve been cutting out red meat, eating my chicken thigh skinless, drinking more water. And what of that? All to make cookies, right?

I’ve long boasted that I didn’t have a sweet tooth. A year ago, you could have put a plate of cookies right in front of me and I wouldn’t have touched a single crumb. And now, I’m all “Oh, maybe I’ll just sample the flavor, have a little bite” and before you know it, I’m pouring myself a glass of milk, while the second or third cookie is firmly clenched between my teeth. I mean, really, we can’t even walk past Billy’s anymore without a little treat! I think the gods are finally having their revenge on me – I shouldn’t have boasted so!

awesome and ingenious! 15 minutes away from being a cookie

So when KS and I finished dinner on Sunday and I looked at him ever-so-demurely and said “Mmm… we SO need dessert,” he shot me a coy look and said, “Cookies!”
“But baby, Billy’s is a long walk away,” I disagreed, at which point, my darling, lovely, sweet man, poked me squarely in the arm and said “Cookies!” with even more conviction.

What, now? Cookies? At this bewitching Sunday night hour, when all I wanted to do was read the travails of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy and wait for the new episode of “Curb”? But, KS knows, and you should also know, that I cannot deny him anything. Not when he makes that sweet, innocent face – that face I cannot resist, and so at 9pm, on a Sunday night, I resolved to make peanut butter cookies. The recipe for which I did not have.

Baking - PB Cookies - 10-7-07 (3) Baking - PB Cookies - 10-7-07 (4)

And after looking all around to many a good reputable recipe site, I simply typed “peanut butter cookies” into Google search and got a recipe right from Elise’s fantastic site! Which is the recipe I made and the cookies turned out to be SO good, I had to write her a personal thank you note, because let’s face it, 10 years ago before a first recipe was posted by a food blogger, I would have had to wait til Monday when I would have to go to a physical bookstore (and you know I heart Amazon) and find a book with a peanut butter cookie recipe. How internet has satisfied the instant gratification in all our hearts! I added some white chocolate chips to the dough – and created a sublimely delicious cookie worthy of seconds and thirds and accompanied by a tall, cold glass of milk.

I suppose there’s always a back-to-back double spin class session on Sundays I can attend to make up for the gluttony of the week!

Recipe by Elise Bauer

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Cream the butter for 2 minutes. Add the sugars, cream for 2 more minutes. Mix in the peanut butter and egg. Mix together the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir into the sugar butter mixture.

2. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 3 hours. (Note, this I did not do, we HAD to have our cookies right then and there. They still came out delicious, but I wander how much better they would have been if they had some chillin’ time!)

3. Preheat oven to 375°F. Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Place about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten in crisscross pattern with a fork. Bake until light brown, 9 to 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for a minute; transfer to rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies – but beware their powers!

For chewier cookies, bake at 300°F for 15 minutes.

8 Comments

  • Jim

    Droooool. I’ve always been more partial to molasses cookies than peanut butter cookies, but I’m still nearly licking my monitor.

  • Mimi

    Those cookies sound really good!
    Cookies really aren’t meant to be healthy but if you are feeling guilty, you may want to pick up some whole-wheat pastry flour. It is made of soft wheat and finely ground. It’s not the same as white flour but you won’t be making hockey pucks like when you use regular whole wheat flour for goodies other than bread.

  • radish

    Jim, I haven’t made those yet, but sounds delicious – I love molasses!
    Maninas – I think that crystallized ginger would be tasty, we just didn’t have any. If I had my druthers, I would have added dark chocolate chunks, but we were out of those!
    Dana – they were, suprisingly so, and not too sweet, which was a bonus!
    Mimi – that’s pretty funny on the cookies – yes, I will take my unhealthy cookies from time to time. I might even stick with white flour ;-)

  • Michelle

    Here’s my peanut butter cookie recipe… super easy and tastes better than any other version I’ve ever tried: 1 cup peanut butter (the grocery store version), 1 cup sugar, 1 egg. Stir up. Drop by tablespoons onto cookie sheet and mash with fork tines. Bake at 350 until done.

  • Jim

    Why are the fork lines such an iconic part of peanut butter cookies, anyway? I think I’m gonna make some chocolate chip cookies with fork lines, just to confuse people.

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