Peanut Butter Cookies
Prep 10 mins Bake 10 mins Eat 20 mins
With the holidays coming all in a row, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s, a treat for a party or family is always welcome. I needed to make a couple hundred cookies for an event. Rather than get all fancy, I decided to make my favorite two kinds – Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip. You can’t go wrong in a crowd with these two all-time favorites. I was after consistency, good presentation and small bites, so people would not feel guilty having more than one.
Using parchment paper and a portioner scoop make cookies look professional.
Do you have a small portioner that looks like a small ice cream scoop? If not, get one. I used a size 100. Yes, at a quality cooking store, you can find sizes from probably 10 up to over 100. The 100 size looks like it’s not going to be big enough, but once the cookies grow in the oven from the egg and leavening in the dough, you will have the perfect bite size. Also, make sure to level off the edge on the side of the bowl, before you unscoop onto your cookie sheet. If you want to be even more of a professional, use parchment paper on your cookie sheets. Heck, you can buy parchment paper now at the 99¢ store, but I like Paper Chef products too, which is a French product packaged in Canada.
The dough is pliable and not gooey.
The dough. Mix the wet ingredients separate from the dry and then mix together just until combined. Don’t overmix. Overmixing will make your cookies tough. The right mixing will insure your cookies have a good “crumb”. Test one cookie before baking the whole batch. You don’t want the cookie to “spread”. If it looks too thin, add more flour until the dough consistency is not too gooey. Weather and moisture in the air affect how your dough acts, so one day you may need more flour than another. After portioning the dough onto the cookie sheet, use a fork dipped in flour to flatten the dough slightly and create the bumps on the top, by doing it twice and crisscrossing each other.
Peanut Butter Cookies baked to golden perfection.
Bake until golden to get good crunch and flavor baked in.
Cooling cookies on wire racks aids in giving cookies their distinctive crunch.
Cool on wire cooking racks, so the air gets underneath and dries the bottom, giving you a nice crunch. Store in air tight containers in between your sheets of parchment. Freeze extra cookies until needed. That way you can sneak out a small bite from your stash any old time. If you want to get the fresh baked taste, warm your cookies on low in a toaster oven (not microwave) for a few minutes before serving.
Display your cookies geometrically on attractive platters.
Baking cookies is child play, but with a little attention to detail, they will be picture perfect. On Saturday, December 13, 12:30 – 4:30, we will bake eight different cookies and we will have over 1000 cookies to share at our annual Holiday Cookie Baking Class. Bring the kids and join in the fun. Class fee $50 when you reserve by December 8, $55 thereafter, if space available. Kids under 12 Free when accompanied by an adult – one child per paid adult. To reserve your spot, email Patricia@FreshFoodinaFlash.com. For further details, click here.
Peanut Butter Cookies
2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 Tablespoons milk
1 teapoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat oven to 375°. In mixing bowl, beat together butter, peanut butter and brown sugar. Slowly beat in egg, milk and vanilla and then blend at medium speed until well mixed.
2. Measure the dry ingredients flour, soda and salt and add to wet ingredients. Stir only when ready to portion onto cookie sheets.
3. Using a small (100) scoop or small spoon, shape dough into small balls and flatten off on side of bowl. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheets. Flatten balls slightly twice with a fork dipped into flour, forming a crisscross pattern.
4. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on cooling racks and store in an airtight container.
Yield: 100 bite-size cookies 35 calories each
Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup butter
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 Tablespoons milk
- 1 teapoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°. In mixing bowl, beat together butter, peanut butter and brown sugar. Slowly beat in egg, milk and vanilla and then blend at medium speed until well mixed.
- Measure the dry ingredients flour, soda and salt and add to wet ingredients. Stir only when ready to portion onto cookie sheets.
- Using a small (100) scoop or small spoon, shape dough into small balls and flatten off on side of bowl. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheets. Flatten balls slightly twice with a fork dipped into flour, forming a crisscross pattern.
- Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on cooling racks and store in an airtight container.
- ENJOY THIS RECIPE FROM FreshFoodinaFlash.com
Nutrition
Oven Temperature: 375°F
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I love peanut butter cookies and I love how quick you can make them.