Chomping down on these Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies today is like floating back in a dream…to the never a care days of running up the driveway and into the house after a day at school…smelling Mom’s wonderful cookies as the screen door slammed. “Don’t slam that door!” She would yell it from whatever room she was cleaning. But, the main thing on our minds was getting our grubby little hands on those soft and outwardly crispy peanut butter cookies. “Wash your hands first!” is the next thing she would yell, knowing full well that we were probably already invading her large plastic tub of cookies. Then, back out the door to play. Outlining the crisscross hashmarks on the cookies with our little fingers as we climbed into the swings, we would fly as high as we could go, thoroughly wrapped up in the flavorful heights of our golden brown little prizes.
Mom made a variety of cookies over the years, but her Peanut Butter Cookies ranked right up there near the top as our favorites…for her kids AND grandkids. When I asked the grandkids which were their favorites from Grandma, her Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies came out on top…especially when she added extras to either recipe. She was not afraid to add more peanuts, more chocolate chips, crispy cereals and chopped up candy bars to her mixtures. Every single cookie was a prized mouthful, as we thoroughly experienced her creativity in baking.
Happy Birthday, Mom! This recipe is dedicated to you on your Birthday, April 30.
This recipe makes 24-36 cookies, depending on how large you make the cookie dough balls.
Prep your baking pans:
Line them with parchment paper to help cleanup to a minimum.
Preheat your oven to 350F degrees a few minutes before you’re ready to bake.
Gather up the Ingredients:
½ C Butter, softened
½ C Shortening
1 C Peanut butter, creamy
1 C Sugar
1 C Brown sugar
2 Eggs
2 ½ - 2 ¾ C Flour
1 t Baking soda
½ t Salt
½ C Peanuts, rough chopped, optional
Make and bake the cookies:
-With an electric mixer, cream the butter, shortening and sugars together so the mixture is smooth.
-Beat in the eggs, one at a time, thoroughly incorporating and scraping down the sides.
-Sift in 2 and 1/2 cups of flour, baking soda and salt, beating slow to keep the cloud of flour to a minimum. Increase the speed and beat just to thoroughly incorporate. Don’t overmix. If the dough seems a little too wet, add more flour a tablespoon at a time. As the mixer is beating, when the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, I know it’s ready to chill.
-Cover and chill the cookie dough for 1-2 hours.
-Form into 2-3 dozen cookie dough balls, using a 1-2 T cookie scoop.
-Place the cookie dough balls onto parchment paper lined pans.
-If you like, form the familiar crisscross pattern on top of the cookies with a fork. Lightly press down with the fork tines flat on the cookie in one direction and then in another direction, perpendicular to the first pressing. This helps flatten the cookies during the baking process. You don’t absolutely NEED to do this. They will flatten a little during the process, anyway. It’s your choice.
-Bake at 350F degrees for 9-12 minutes. I check them at the 8-minute mark and rotate the pan 180 degrees since my oven bakes a little off on one side.
-Take the pan of cookies out of the oven and allow the cookies to continue baking on the pans for a couple of minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.
Add some extras!
-To give your cookies even more peanut buttery flavor, add small Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to the still warm cookies a couple minutes after they come out of the oven. Be sure to unwrap the foil from the cups.
-Rough chop about 10 regular sized Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and roll a few pieces up in the dough as you make the cookie dough balls.
-Stir in a half cup of Reese’s Pieces chips into the dough before you roll the cookie dough into balls.
-While the baked cookies are still warm but not hot, lightly press some Reese’s Pieces chips onto their tops.
-Press a few peanut halves onto the top of the warm cookies after they’ve been baked, or before they go in the oven.
-Melt some chocolate or white candy wafers and swirl on top of the baked and cooled cookies. Then sprinkle some rough chopped peanuts on the chocolate before it cools and hardens.
-Drizzle melted candy wafers in zigzag lines on top after the cookies have cooled.
Storage:
-The cookie dough lends well to being frozen before baking. Form your cookie dough balls and freeze in an airtight container. I like to freeze them in a cookie pan. Then when they’re frozen solid, about 3 hours later, I put them into sealable plastic bags or another airtight container. When I double bag them, they will last for a month or more in the freezer. I’m sure they will last longer, but they are
used up within a month at my house. To bake, first thaw them in the container overnight in the refrigerator or on the baking pan for 15 minutes at room temperature. Then bake according to the directions above.
-To freeze the baked cookies, double bag them in sealable plastic bags or store them in a rigid airtight container. They last in my house up to a couple weeks, but I’m sure they will freeze much longer. We like to eat them right out of the freezer, that’s why they don’t last more than a couple of weeks. You can thaw them in the unopened container on the counter for 30-60 minutes, or on a plate for 10 minutes. Enjoy!!
Making Mom’s Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies bring back so many wonderful childhood memories. They are easy to make and delicious to share. Whatever extras you might add or however you share your cookies, “Bake your own Memories!”
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