I LOVE BAKING FOR THE HOLIDAYS

By: BILL GREEN

It’s no secret to my friends and family that I am pretty crafty in the kitchen.  Although I am not a gourmet cook I  love to bake and I work from many recipes that have been in my family for generations.  Here is one of my all time favorite Holiday and all year Peanut Butter Cookie Recipes.  Check back monthly for a new recipe “from my kitchen to yours”.

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CHUNKY PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE RECIPE

I have had a favorite Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe ever since I was a kid and baking holiday cookies with my mom. They are totally fabulous peanut butter cookies, which will always be a staple for holiday cookie trays. However, a few weeks ago I went to one of my favorite gourmet markets and they were selling a bunch of different homemade cookies. They had ginormous peanut butter cookies that I totally couldn’t resist. I bought one and started munching on it on my way home – it was a little crisper than I like my peanut butter cookies, but I loved that there were tons of peanuts mixed in.

Those beauties were my inspiration for these cookies – a great recipe from my mother’s original recipe that I kept pretty much the same, but I made them much larger and nuttier. You know my motto when it comes to cookies – go big or go home! These go perfectly along with the thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies that are soft and chewy, with tons of flavor!

Ingredients:

2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup crunchy peanut butter (not natural)
1 cup light brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1½ cups chopped salted peanuts

To Finish:
½ cup granulated sugar, for rolling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.

3. With an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed for two minutes, until smooth and creamy. Add the peanut butter and beat for another minute or so until combined and creamy.  Add the light brown and granulated sugar and beat for an additional 3 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for about a minute after each addition, again scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients gradually, mixing only until just combined. Mix in the chopped peanuts for about seconds.

4. Put the additional ½ cup of granulated sugar in a small bowl. Using a large cookie scoop (or about 3 tablespoons full of dough), scoop out the dough and roll into a ball. Drop the balls of dough into the sugar and roll around to coat, them place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between them. Dip the tines of a fork in the sugar and press the tines against each ball in one direction, and then in a perpendicular directions – the balls of dough should now be flattened rounds with crisscross indentations.

5. Bake the cookies for about 10 to 11 minutes, until they are lightly browned and still a little soft. Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for a minute before transferring them to a cooling rack. (If you are re-using baking sheets, be sure to cool the baking sheets between batches.) Cool to room temperature. The cookies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Note #1: You can use creamy peanut butter, but I love all of the chunks from crunchy!

Note #2: You can use a no-stir natural peanut butter (such as Jif or Skippy), but not the stir kind that needs to be refrigerated.