Peanut Butter Cookies

It happens to all of us: an undeniable, overwhelming craving for a certain food. It happens to me quite often, actually. If it’s a savory dish I’m craving, I put it on the coming week’s menu. But if it’s a sweet craving – well, it’s harder for me to wait.

One of the cravings that hit me recently was for a peanut butter cookie. Just a simple, classic, chewy, peanut buttery cookie, fork marks and all. Believe it or not, I had never made these cookies myself (yes, really! Do I lose my food blogger's license?), so I didn’t have a tried-and-true recipe to use. My mom made them all the time, but I couldn’t find her recipe in her collection. So I chose this recipe on a whim, and thankfully, it was a winner.

I don’t know what else I can really say about these cookies. They’re delicious, and take me back to when I was a kid and my mom would serve these to my brother and me, hot from the oven, drizzled with melted chocolate in the fork marks. I did the same thing with my cookies and my children, and it was such a happy memory, and such a yummy cookie.

Peanut Butter Cookies
slightly adapted from Allrecipes

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup finely chopped unsalted peanuts
Semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugars. Beat in eggs.

2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir into batter. Fold in peanuts. Put batter in refrigerator for 1 hour.

3. Roll into 1 inch balls and put on baking sheets. Flatten each ball with a fork, making a criss-cross pattern. Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for about 10 minutes or until cookies begin to brown. Do not over-bake. Remove to a wire rack.

4. Add chocolate chips to a plastic bag with a touch of vegetable oil to make it smooth. Melt in 30-second increments until completely melted. Snip a corner in the bag and trace chocolate into the fork marks on the cookies.

One year ago: Zucchini banana chocolate chip muffins