Peanut Butter Cookies

October 1, 2010 in cookie

I know what you’re thinking. Why does this crazy blogger have Christmas lights under her cookies?! Because it’s the start of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies! That means that I’ll have a fun cookie, candy, or other holiday-ish treat for you every Friday from now until December.

For my first cookie, I went with an old favorite – the peanut butter cookie. They aren’t what you typically think of for a Christmas platter but I like to include them since they’re something just about everyone enjoys. They were the first cookie I ever made for my husband and the one cookie I know he’ll always eat.

This is my favorite recipe for the old favorite. It’s soft but not too soft and I love that the cookies are rolled in sugar. Plus with the recipe, you always get the exact number that the recipe says which is rare and awesome.

Peanut Butter Cookies
adapted from Baking: From Our Home to Yours

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
pinch of grated nutmeg
2 sticks (8 ounce) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
about 1/2 cup sugar, for rolling

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for a minute or two, until smooth and creamy. Add the peanut butter and beat for another minute. Add the sugars and beat for 3 minutes more. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl and, on low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they just disappear. You’ll have a soft, pliable (mushable, actually) dough.

Pour the 1/2 cup of sugar into a small bowl. Working with a level tablespoonful of dough for each cookie, roll the dough between your palms into balls and drop the balls, a couple at a time, into the sugar. Roll the balls around in the sugar to coat them, then place on the baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between them. Dip the tines of a fork in sugar and press the tines against each ball first in one direction and then in a perpendicular direction – you should have a flattened round of dough with crisscross indentations.

Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. When done, the cookies will be lightly colored and still a little soft. Let the cookies sit on the sheets for a minute before transferring them to cooling racks with a wide metal spatula. Cool to room temperature.

Repeat with the remaining dough, making sure to cool the baking sheets between batches.


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