When most people think about North America/USA/Canada and cookies they think Chocolate Chip Cookies. I love them myself but I also love variety, so Peanut Butter Cookies seem to be a good way to switch it up. Unless you are allergic to peanuts, in that case you should stay away from them. Fortunately, neither am I not my husband allergic and so I baked some last night. My husband is a little cookie monster, having cookies in the cookie jar is a must. I promised for ages to make some more but never had the time.
The first time I encounter peanut butter was in 2003 when I lived in Oklahoma. You might find that funny but think about when you first had Nutella. I always say that Europeans, or at least Germans, are Nutella people and North Americans are peanut butter people. That first encounter wasn’t very promising, I just did it the wrong way. Peanut butter tends to be dry in your mouth and somehow seems to multiply. However, if done the right way it is most delicious. My husband makes some great peanut butter and honey with a dash of cinnamon sandwiches. So much better than that first encounter.
The recipe comes from the Recipe for Young Adults – Metric Edition, it has been a useful little cook book so far.
Ingredients:
– 3 cups flour
– 2 tsp. baking soda
– dash of salt
– 1 cup shortening
– 1 cup sugar
– 1 cup brown sugar
– 2 eggs
– 1 cup peanut butter
– 1tsp. vanilla
Tip 1: As usual, I reduced the sugar, both of them. I only used 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. The taste was fine, not too sweet, very peanut buttery.
Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together and set aside. Cream the shortening before adding both sugars, beat again. Add the eggs and cream together until well combined. Add the peanut butter and vanilla and mix well. Finally, add the flour mix. If you use your stand mixer the paddle attachment will work fine. Otherwise, use you hands to combine because the dough is like a playdough, sort of.
Make little balls, place on a cookie sheet lined with baking paper and, using a fork, press down on the ball. Bake at 190°C for 10 to 15 min.
Tip 2: I used a scale to make sure all the cookies are the same weight. 20g worked perfectly for me. I also pushed the balls of dough flat on my hand and then used a fork to make the pattern. This way, the cookies are a bit bigger and not as thick.
These are some classical peanut butter cookies. I was thinking about adding some chocolate chips to the dough but couldn’t be bother, it was late, almost midnight. You could also add chopped peanuts or use crunchy peanut butter to give the cookie some extra texture.
Happy baking!
Baking in Saskatoon 