Peanut Butter Cookies

Classic Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut butter is a versatile ingredient perfect for various recipes. Peanut butter cookies are classic treats with a perfect combination between crunchy, soft, and slightly-chewy texture (if baked right). Classic peanut butter cookie recipes are ideal for snacks, holiday parties, or kid’s baking projects.

Why Making Peanut Butter Cookies?

Peanut Butter Cookies

marthastewart.com

Peanut butter cookies are more than just sweet treats. The cookies are associated with George Washington Carver, America’s agricultural technology pioneer. Carver suggested peanuts as replacement crops for cotton damaged by the weevil. Carver also compiled at least 150 recipes to use the peanuts, and the cookie was one of them.

American peanut butter cookies started to have lines on their surfaces in the 1930s. Pillsbury Company, a grain producer, released a peanut butter cookie recipe that required people to press the surface with a fork. There was no explanation, but perhaps it was to prevent uneven baking result on the surface.

Curious to make your own peanut butter cookies? Keep reading!

Ingredients

Peanut Butter Cookies

simplyrecipes.com

2 ½ cup of flour

1 cup of peanut butter (crunchy)

2 eggs

1 cup of unsalted butter

1 cup of white sugar

1 cup of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 ½ teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

This recipe yields 20 to 24 cookies, depending on the sizes of each cookie.

Tools

Peanut Butter Cookies

kingarthurflour.com

2 bowls

Spatula and mixer

Strainer (for sifting)

Spoons

Fork

Baking tray and parchment

Instructions

Peanut Butter Cookies

saveur.com

  1. Mix butter, peanut butter, and all the sugar in one bowl. Beat until smooth
  2. Add eggs into the mixture. Beat with mixer until all ingredients are mixed properly
  3. Sift flour on top of the other bowl
  4. Add salt, baking soda, and baking powder into the sifted flour. Mix properly with a spatula
  5. Pour the butter and peanut butter mixture into the flour bottle. Stir until mixed properly
  6. Store the dough in a fridge for an hour
  7. Take out chilled dough. Use the dough to create small balls (1 inch)
  8. Press each ball with a fork. Not only it flattens the balls perfectly, but it also creates the iconic crisscrossed pattern
  9. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (191 degrees C)
  10. Bake the peanut butter cookies for 10 minutes. Alternatively, wait until the cookies have golden, soft color, but not too pale or sickly

The relatively low temperature is deliberate. The goal is to get slow-baking cookies with more even results. If everything goes well, you will get cookies that are crunchy on the outside, but chewy and soft in the middle.

Nutrition Info

Peanut Butter Cookies

bettycrocker.com

Medium-sized peanut butter cookies (around 3 inches or 7.7 cm in diameter) yields 6.7 g of total fat per cookie. It covers 10% of the recommended daily value of fat intake. The carbohydrate level reaches 21 g per cookie, with almost all of the carbs consist of sugar.

This medium-sized cookie also contains 146 calories. Therefore, it is best to limit the consumption of these cookies. If you want to reduce the calorie intake, make the peanut butter cookies smaller, or use low-fat peanut butter.

Peanut Butter Cookies Storage Tips

Peanut Butter Cookies

chatalaine.com

An ideal peanut butter cookie is bent when you try to break it, thanks to the soft and chewy texture. To keep the ideal texture, make sure you store the cookies properly. The goal is to keep the cookies soft and moist, but slightly crunchy outside.

Avoid using one of those “cookie jars”, which only offer cute storage without keeping the cookie’s quality. Choose a solid jar (preferably glass) with an airtight lid. Place the cookies along with a small piece of bread. The cookies will absorb the moisture from unused bread, keeping the texture pleasant.

Variations in Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

Peanut Butter Cookies

theapronarchives.com

Peanut butter cookies have an easy and straightforward recipe. Therefore, you can pass it down or adopt it without worries. Classic peanut butter cookies are easy, making them popular as baking projects for kids. The simple recipe also makes the cookies easy to recreate in unique ways.

Here are several alternatives to make peanut butter biscuits:

  • Use creamy peanut butter instead of crunchy. Creamy peanut butter will make the cookies softer.
  • Add chocolate chips of Reese’s peanut butter cups for extra flavors and texture.
  • Replace the regular flour with oatmeal flour. It is perfect for creating the “healthier” version of the cookies.
  • Find flourless recipes. There are tons of peanut butter cookie recipes that don’t use flour at all. This is great if you are in food restrictions and cannot consume too much flour.
  • Add vanilla in the recipe. It will create more fragrance and luxurious, bakery-like sensation.

You can also make peanut butter cookie with dried fruits, such as raisins and cherries. Whatever cookie styles you make, don’t forget that it takes time to perfect even an ideal “basic” cookie.

Conclusion

Peanut butter cookies are soft and chewy, with a crunchy outside. The basic recipe is so easy; you can make it anytime and even take the kids to help. Enjoy peanut butter cookies with a cup of tea, chai, or latte.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *