Monday, February 8, 2010

Moist and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

These are the absolute BEST peanut butter cookies I have ever eaten. They are very moist and chewy and not excessively peanut buttery. I made them for my LOST party, froze them for two days, let them thaw on the 900 mile trip cross country, and served them from a suitcase and they were still super delicious. They also looked spectacular.For years I have heard that you should scoop your cookies with an ice cream scoop to make them all look uniform like professionally manufactured cookies, but I had never really tried it. First of all, I've never cared much about what my cookies looked like and secondly who wants people to confuse your homemade goodness for some preservative laden store bought cookie?

But since it was for a party I decided to try the cookie scoop thing. It was wonderful. Every yummy cookie was a feast for the eyes. Perfectly round and sized exactly like his neighbors. I'm not saying I'll give up the two spoon scrape off method just yet but I'll definitely use the cookie scoop again. Especially if I really need to impress someone. :)

Peanut Butter Cookies (Source: King Arthur Flour Blog)

1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter
1 cup (7 1/2 ounces) light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup (4 3/4 ounces) peanut butter, creamy or chunky
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream the butter until it's light and fluffy. Add the sugar, salt and egg, and beat until fluffy. Add the peanut butter, butter-vanilla and baking soda, and beat until well-blended. Stir in the flour, mixing slowly until the dough is cohesive.

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased or parchment-lined cookie sheets; flatten the balls slightly. Bake the cookies in a preheated 375°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes; the cookies will be soft, but will become chewy as they cool. Be careful not to overbake them; they burn easily. Remove the cookies from the oven, and allow them to cool on a rack.

2 comments:

April@The 21st Century Housewife said...

This recipe looks really yummy. I use an ice cream scoop to get my muffin batter in the tins, and a mini ice cream scoop for cookies too.

Unknown said...

I use a scoop for muffins, but have not tried to use it for cookies. that's probably because I haven't made many lately:) Come join me for Crock Pot Wednesday and the February giveaway.