Okay, so it’s no longer cookie season. So I’m supposed to be inspiring you with healthy, low-calorie dishes. I’m supposed to be tackling some grueling resolution or other and telling you about the high Whole Food Quotient, low-fat, unprocessed, locally-sourced, but still fabulously delicious way I’m doing it.
I do believe in a wholesome diet based on many of those
things, but the fact is, I’ve been hungering for peanut butter desserts since
last January. LAST JANUARY! But then it was January and I had to watch what I
was eating because of the post-holiday bulge and I was going to make something
peanut buttery for Valentine’s Day, but then I didn’t, so now, still hungry for
sweet peanut butter confections, I made peanut butter cookies. Peanut butter
cookies with peanut butter cups in them.
I got this recipe from my mom a long time ago. I’m not sure
where she got it, but it was one that was “going around” her potluck circles
(like some kind of virus?) years ago. And they’re special. Sure they’re loaded
with chopped miniature peanut butter cups, which would make just about anything
special, but the actual cookie part of these cookies is special too. They’re
pleasantly crisp on the outside, moist and chewy on the inside. Intensely
peanut buttery. Delicious
I think you could replace the peanut butter cups with chocolate
or peanut butter chips or a combination of the two. You probably could leave
all those add-ins out and still have a fabulously delicious peanut butter
cookie. The ultimate peanut butter cookie? I’ll go out on a limb and say, “perhaps.”
It is January, however, the season of post-holiday
deprivation and health-related resolutions. I didn’t eat all of those few dozen
cookies. I’ve found a very hungry group of cookie testers who seemed happy to
take them off my hands.
I have no idea who took a bite out of this one. Not one
clue.
Peanut Butter
Cookies with Peanut Butter Cups
From my mom
You could use creamy
peanut butter if you prefer or replace the peanut butter cups or omit them as
desired.
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups chopped miniature peanut butter cups, such as Reese’s brand (about one 9-ounce package, unwrapped)
1. In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder,
baking soda, and salt. Sift or whisk together to combine well. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer (or in a
medium-size bowl if you are stirring by hand), combine the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar,
and granulated sugar. Beat together until creamy and fluffy. Add the eggs one
at a time and beat them in until well-combined. Beat in the vanilla extract.
3. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir
in the peanut butter cups. Cover and chill the dough for at least 2 hours
(overnight is even better). The dough can also be wrapped well and frozen at
this point for later use.
4. Preheat oven to 350 F.
Very lightly spray cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Drop the cookie
dough by heaping tablespoons (I actually use a 2-inch scoop, and highly recommend
that) onto the cookie sheet leaving an inch or two between each cookie.
5. Bake at 350 F for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool
on the pan 2 minutes. Remove with a spatula to a wire rack to cool. Store in an
air-tight container for a few days.
I forgot to make note of how many cookies there are in this
batch, but I think it’s about 4 dozen.
One year ago: Root Vegetable Soup with Mustard
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