Peanut Butter Cookies

It’s fitting that Peanut Butter Cookies will be my last Joy of Cooking post, because they were the first recipe I ever made from it. My sister Lynn and I used to make them a long time ago using a warped cookie sheet and real teaspoons (as in, the kind you’d use to stir your tea) to measure ingredients. They always turned out great, even when they got a little burned around the edges. My dad likes the burned ones the best, because they remind him of his grandmother, who also burned her cookies. Aww.

So, leading this recipe into the next generation, I present to you my SuperChunkers!
The SuperChunkers!

Chunky peanut butter is much better than smooth in this recipe. It’s more substantial. And you must use commercial peanut butter. We like Skippy. Skippy SuperChunk! in this case. I made them once using natural peanut butter, and they were disappointing.

Okay, so here’s what Joy says:
For those who dote on peanut butter cookies, try these rich and crumbly ones. Use the greater amount of flour if your peanut butter is heavy in oil.
Preheat oven to 375°.
Beat until soft:
1/2 cup butter or shortening
Add gradually and blend until creamy:
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar

This is always the best part of cookie recipes. Mmm, butter and sugar.

Beat in:
1 egg
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

I have an awesome tip to share with anyone who has ever suffered though trying to meaure peanut butter for a recipe: oil the measuring cup first. The peanut butter slides right out, and you get an accurate measurement. Observe.

Oil in the measuring cup. Spread it all around in there.

Josh doing some excellent measuring. Go, SuperChunker!

(Almost) all clean! Amazing, no?

 

Sift before measuring:
1 to 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

I never sift in this recipe. It works out fine.  BUT do add more than one cup. I added about 1 and 1/3, and that worked out pretty well. The dough should not be too sticky.

Natty approves of the dough.

Roll the dough into small balls. Place them on a greased cookie sheet. Press flat with a fork, as illustrated on 705. Bake about 10 to 12 minutes.

My fork technique, a bit different from Joy's.

I always thought that I was following the Joy technique until this time around when I looked more closely at the illustration on page 705, and found that I was doing something quite different. Huh. I make two fork impressions perpendicular to each other. It bakes up nicely with more surface area for browning and crunchiness.

All baked up.

These cookies are seriously so good. Buttery, “rich and crumbly” as described above, and very easy to eat a lot of. Especially with milk. My god, definitely try them with milk. Unreal. And they freeze really well. They also taste quite good on the burned side, as some in my family will attest.

Make me, I'm tasty!

 

The full deal below.

Peanut Butter Cookies

For those who dote on peanut butter cookies, try these rich and crumbly ones. Use the greater amount of flour if your peanut butter is heavy in oil.
Preheat oven to 375°.
Beat until soft:
1/2 cup butter or shortening
Add gradually and blend until creamy:
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Beat in:
1 egg
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Sift before measuring:
1 to 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Roll the dough into small balls. Place them on a greased cookie sheet. Press flat with a fork, as illustrated on 705. Bake about 10 to 12 minutes.

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