Sunday, January 23, 2011

Cookies and Milk

Here is my idea of a perfect weekend day.  Me puttering in the kitchen, concocting something yummy for dinner, listening to NPR on the kitchen radio, The Husband in the TV room blissfully channel surfing (blissful because I'm not in there wanting to take control of the remote!), and the rest of the world is outside of our home leaving us alone.  Call me anti-social if you will, but I'm not really.  We just work very hard all week and relaxation in the variety of forms it takes in our house is much deserved.

Some weekends I go all out and whip up something fanciful and new to try, but this weekend the best I could come up with, at the request of The Husband, was peanut butter cookies.  He wanted nothing fancy, just the honest-to-goodness, peanut butter cookie like Mom use to make. 

I remember the first time I made peanut butter cookies when I was a teen, I found a recipe in this large book called the Whole Earth Catalog.  It was some kind of "hippie" catalog and what it was doing in our house and who brought it in is a mystery to me.  But anyway, they were delicious.  Alas, I was unable to find that recipe on the Internet so I went to one of my tried and true basic cookbooks, The Joy of Cooking, and found a wonderful substitute.  Served with a glass of milk, these cookies will surely remind you of your childhood.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat butter until soft.  Add sugars and beat until creamy.  Add egg, vanilla and peanut butter. Beat until creamy.  Add salt, baking soda and flour and beat until combined. 

Roll the dough into small balls. Place then on cookie sheet. Dip the tines of a fork into granulated sugar and press cookie balls flat making cross hatches.  Bake 12-14 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from cookie sheets onto cooling racks.
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8 comments:

  1. The Mulligan FamilyJanuary 23, 2011 at 10:10 AM

    Oh great! I have a feeling I know what I'm going to be doing this afternoon!!! All I can think about now are yummy warm peanut butter cookies with an ice cold glass of milk.!!! Oy!

    Sounds wonderful...and I really AM going to make them today. You've inspired me. ;-)

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  2. ShannonJanuary 23, 2011 at 10:58 AM

    Looks lovely - but where oh where is your pie for National Pie Day????

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  3. Big SisJanuary 23, 2011 at 8:57 PM

    Need I remind you who the hippie sibling was? I bought that fabulous book. I wonder if it is still in the piano bench?

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  4. whack pattiJanuary 24, 2011 at 7:28 AM

    Linda, I never thought of you as a hippie. I always took you as a goody two-shoes, like Sue.

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  5. UnknownJanuary 26, 2011 at 8:44 AM

    I love peanut butter cookies. Mom used to send them to me by the boxloads as care packages when I was in college. Thanks for sharing

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  6. whack pattiFebruary 12, 2011 at 10:45 AM

    So, you want to be left alone, huh?

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  7. heyletsgetmikeyMay 26, 2011 at 10:53 PM

    Here's the original recipe from the Whole Earth Catalog:
    1/2 cup butter or margarine
    1/2 cup peanut butter
    1/2 cup white sugar
    1/2 cup brown sugar
    1 egg
    1/2 teaspoon vanilla
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    1 cup flour (pastry flour is suggested)
    Drop by teaspoon and press flat with a fork. Bake about 10 minutes at 350.

    ReplyDelete
  8. heyletsgetmikeyMay 26, 2011 at 11:04 PM

    Oh, BTW, the original recipe posted in the Whole Earth Catalog was courtesy of the Fanny Farmer Cookbook (just to give credit where credit is due).

    ReplyDelete

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