Peanut Butter Cookies, Two Ways

A lot of my cooking experiences have been part of a series of firsts. For example, before I baked them, I don't think I'd ever had a home made peanut butter cookie. I'd had a Nutter Butter...but those don't count. I've never been rabid about peanut butter in general so I think the initial inspiration for these cookies didn't even come from me, but from my roommate. 


However...these are insanely good. They are rich and dense, a peanut butter fudge in cookie form (I'm dubious about using the word fudge because, being cooked through, the cookies aren't wet or mushy at all--but they do have the same characteristic richness). In each thick bite they deliver strong peanut flavor, sweeter than straight peanut butter (natural unsweetened peanut butter, that is) and without peanut butter's roof-of-your-mouth stickiness, which I find kind of off-putting. Munched with a glass of milk to cut through the intensity of their flavor between bites, they're a peanut lover's paradise. 

They're also gluten free, use healthy fats (see note below) and are, depending on your preparation and inclinations, Kosher for Passover (it is debated within the Jewish community whether peanuts may be eaten during Passover or not, as whole peanuts closely resemble other nuts and seeds that may be made into flour, and peanut butter often contains grain products such as corn syrup. More information can be found here and here.) For the most part, however, peanuts are accepted as Kosher for Passover, and peanut butter may be eaten as well, as long as it contains no grain ingredients (i.e. either make it yourself, or buy natural peanut butter, which should contain only peanuts and salt. If purchasing store-bought peanut butter, it should be bought before Passover begins and opened only once Passover has started). 


...once you've made up your mind about making them, the actual cooking process is remarkably easy. 


Combine an egg, a cup of sugar, and a cup of peanut butter in a bowl. 

Mix it around a little. Preheat. 

No, not to 100 degrees. The thing I like about this picture is that if you follow my floury fingerprints you can sleuth out three things: 1. The last thing I made was baked at 400 degrees, 2. It was not gluten-free, 3. I don't clean my (roommate's family's) oven enough.


I swear I live in an apartment and have my own oven and everything. These pictures are just from a couple years ago, when I didn't. And I clean my own oven all the time. 

This is what the dough should look like when you're done mixing it up. With damp hands, shape it into one and a half to two inch balls. 

Using wet hands keeps the dough from sticking to you as you shape it. I find that the fork marks are best made with a sugared fork, however, not a wet one. You can also use a floured fork since these cookies really don't need any more sweetness. In fact, I've tried making them with reduced sugar, but that unfortunately didn't work out so well. Cooking isn't just based on taste, but on the chemistry of how the ingredients interact, and it seems that in this case the full amount of sugar is requisite for that reason, at least. 

One thing I learned the slow way is that you want to take cookies out of the oven while they still appear slightly under-baked, and when in doubt, under-bake rather than over-bake. The edges/bottoms of these should be just barely golden when you take them out. 

I only made traditional peanut butter cookies with half the dough, and with the other half, added chocolate chips. The chips got in the way of making the usual fork tine impressions, so with these, after shaping them into balls, I simply flattened them slightly with my hands. 

Both versions are fantastically delicious. This plateful was gone in record time. 


PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES 
Adapted from Stephanie T. via allrecipes.com
Makes roughly 16, depending on the size you make them
Prep time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 10 minutes


Ingredients
1 cup peanut butter (you may use chunky or smooth; I recommend smooth. I also recommend using a peanut butter with no added sugar, see note below)
1 cup sugar (either white or a combination of white and brown; I use white)
1 egg


Optional: 1 teaspoon vanilla (see note below), one handful of chocolate chips


Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Combine peanut butter, sugar, and egg (and vanilla, if using) and mix until you have a uniform dough. Fold in chocolate chips, if using. Dampen your hands and roll dough (or use a cookie scoop) to make one and a half to two inch balls, and place them a couple inches apart on a greased cookie sheet (if using chocolate chips, flatten the balls slightly between your hands to a thickness of around 1/2 inch before placing them on the cookie sheet). If not using chocolate chips, flour or sugar the tines of a fork and press it into the cookie twice at perpendicular angles, flattening the cookie to a thickness of about 1/2 inch and making a crosshatch pattern. Bake for 8 minutes or until edges have just begun to turn golden and center still looks slightly under-baked. Cool; as they cool the cookies will firm up and deflate slightly to their desired texture. 


Notes: using peanut butter as the sole fat in these cookies is healthier than using butter, because aside from the additional nutrients found in peanut butter (protein, fiber), peanut butter contains mostly mono-unsaturated fats, which are better for your body than the saturated fat of butter. 


Concerning what peanut butter to use--I have had a weird history with these cookies. The first time I made them, they were perfect. Subsequent times I've had problems with them, and I'm not sure if it's entirely due to me fiddling with the sugar level, or if it's had something to do with what peanut butter I used. I recommend using natural creamy peanut butter (no sugar added) that has been mixed thoroughly so that its oils are fully incorporated. I'm under the weather and can't have sugar, otherwise I'd test these out again right away--I plan on doing so when I get better and making revisions to the recipe, if necessary. If you have any suggestions or ideas, feel free to comment. 


I'm in love with vanilla and try to add it into everything I bake, but in this case I find it genuinely didn't add much, so feel free to leave it out.