Peanut Butter Cookies

While growing up in India, I had never heard or tasted peanut butter. But I am sure many people back home know about it now.The first time I saw it was in America. And I guess Americans love peanut butter..I used to see people rave about it and PBJ (Peanut Butter and Jelly) is a favorite sandwich among most children in USA. And even my son (and me too) love PBJ sandwich now. And if you are wondering how it is made, then let me tell explain -Its just a Layer of peanut butter on one slice topped with another slice and you spread a layer of strawberry jam on that second slice and lastly cover with another slice of bread. Doesn't it sound easy ? and Its Yummy too..when you bite a slice of this sandwich, you can taste the sweet jam and the nutty and salty peanut butter and all you will say is yummmm.

And also peanut butter cookies are very famous there. Like I said, people there love anything and everything with peanut butter in it. It had been a long time since I baked them, so baked these and also made some chocolate fudge few weeks back to take along while visiting our cousins here. And I was so glad to know that they loved it. If you are a peanut butter lover like me, then this is a must try recipe for you .




PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
source - Joy of Baking

Ingredients:

3/4 cup(170 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature,
1/2 cup granulated white sugar,
1/2 cup light brown sugar,
1 large egg,
1 tsp vanilla extract,
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter,
2 cups all purpose flour,
1/2 tsp baking soda and
1/4 tsp salt.




Method:

Using a hand mixer, beat the butter in a bowl until smooth and fluffy. To this add the granulated sugar and light brown sugar and beat for around 2-3 minutes. Now, add the smooth peanut butter to this and beat until incorporated. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat again to mix.

In a separate bowl, sieve together the dry ingredients - flour, salt and baking soda and add this to the above mixture and beat on low speed until everything in mixed well and forms into a dough. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F / 177 C and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough into small balls (around 1 inch) and place them on the baking sheet. Now dip the tines of a fork in granulated sugar or flour and make the criss-cross patterns on them.

Bake for 10- 12 minutes or until you see the cookies turning light brown on the edges. Once out of the oven, cool on an oven rack and store in an air tight container.



Notes:

Keeping in refrigerator is not needed if you want crispy cookies. Because keeping the dough in the refrigerator will give you soft and chewy cookies. And by not refrigerating it, the dough will spread more and will yield you flat and crispy cookies.

If you want you can add finely chopped peanuts or chocolate chip cookies to the dough after adding the dry ingredients. Or you can use crunchy peanut butter instead of smooth.

And when you place them on the baking sheet place them 1-2 inches apart because they spread while baking.