Best Peanut Butter Cookies

August 2, 2009.   2 Comments.   Categories Cookies from Home, Desserts.  

Best Peanut Butter Cookies

I love good peanut butter cookies.  When I make them, I make a lot of them to give to other people.  This recipe will make about 5 dozen cookies.  If you don’t want to make that many, you can simply cut all ingredient quantities in half. I opted for a larger recipe as many of these cookies are being made by military families who want to send cookies to Iraq or overseas.  

This recipe was adapted from a Carole Bloom recipe in her book, The Essential Baker.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup organic unsalted butter (softened at room temp)
• 1 cup peanut butter, chunky texture  and at room temp (freshly ground at the grocery store is best!)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 extra large organic eggs (at room temp )
• 1 tsp pure vanilla (not imitation)
• 3/4 cup peanuts, salted and lightly toasted

Preheat oven to 350.  Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

Stir together dry ingredients in a bowl.

In mixer with a flat or paddle attachment, cream butter until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes).  Add the peanut butter and blend.  Add both sugars to the mixture and mix until completely blended.

Using a fork or whisk, beat the eggs and vanilla together in a separate bowl.  Add to the peanut butter mixture and mix until completely blended.  Scrape down the sides with a spatula to ensure an even mix.  Continue doing this until the egg blends into the mixture and smoothes out.

Slowly add the dry ingredients slowly in stages so it is completely blended.  Scrap the sides with a spatula as you go to ensure everything gets completely mixed.

Add half of the peanuts to the mixture and blend by hand until mixed.

Using a large spoon scoop batter into balls or mounds.  Place on baking sheets about 2 inches apart.  Lightly dampen the back of a fork and press each cookie ball slightly to flatten it.  Then make a cross-hatch pattern by lightly doing the same across the first set of marks.

Using remaining peanuts – press a few peanuts into the top of each cookie.

Cover one baking sheet with saran wrap and place in refrigerator while other two are baking.  Place two of the baking sheets in the oven, one on the upper rack and one on the lower rack.  Bake for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes switch the baking sheets rack positions and bake for another 7-8 minutes or until cookies are lightly golden.   

Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets.  Carefully remove and enjoy!

Bake for 8-10 minutes for chewy

10-12 minutes for crispy/chewy

and 12-14 minutes for crispy but watch carefully. Cool completely. about 6 dozen.

Now, if you want to make sandwich  cookies make a spread of equal amounts of peanut butter and honey (or try sandwiching with ganache)  and put two cookies together with the filling in the middle.

Recommendations for shipping:

1. Use a vacuum sealer. Seal the bag and then place the sealed bag into a bag that you blow up like a balloon. Just place to original bag in, zip all but one edge, blow it up like you were inflating a party balloon and finish zipping.

2. Pack the inflated bags in popcorn.

3.Another thing to do is to be sure to use a label on each package. For example:

“4 doz. chocolate chip cookies – Baked 1/23/08”

4. Add a packing list to the inside of the package, with the recipient’s address as well as your own.