Peanut Butter Cookies

Do you ever randomly smell something (even when there is no explicable reason for the smell) and start to crave it immediately? This is how this recipe came to be...

It started when I thought I smelled peanut butter. It only lingered for a moment, but the craving persisted for the rest of the day. Then, my colleague came to work with a peanut butter bagel the next day. Next, we started talking about peanut butter cookies and it was all downhill from there...or uphill (depending on how you look at it). Thankfully, I have ready-made taste-testers at work, many of whom are foodies themselves.

Giz has posted Dorie Greenspan's recipe for Peanut Butter Crisscrosses before. That recipe makes for crunchier cookies than this recipe, which comes from The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook. This cookbook is one I regularly turn to for recipes.

Peanut Butter Cookies


1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp each basking soda and baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1. In large bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy; beat in brown and granulated sugars. Beat in peanut butter and eggs, 1 at a time; beat in vanilla until smooth.

2. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add all at once to butter mixture and stir until blended.

3. Scoop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls (15 ml) and roll into balls; place 2 inches (5 cm) apart, on parchment paper-lined or greased rimless baking sheets. With fork dipped in flour or granulated sugar, press each to make crisscross pattern and flatten to 1/2 inch (1 cm) thickness.

4. Bake in 350F oven for 10-12 minutes or until firm and edges and bottoms are golden. Transfer to racks; let cool.

Verdict: Craving fulfilled!