Peanut Butter Cookies

At my housewarming party at the end of May, my friend Thuy and Al bought Jane and I The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook .  This cookbook is probably ONE OF THE BEST cookbooks I have and one of the best cookbooks I ever looked at (Thanks Thuyzee).  There are tons of pictures in the book and so many different useful tips for inexperience cooks like me.    If you are searching for an ultimate cookbook, I suggest picking this cookbook up.

While browsing through the book, I started looking at the cookie section and realized I have all the ingredients since my cousin left a bunch of the ingredients at my house from baking cupcakes at my house the week before, so I decided to bake Peanut Butter Cookies because that is Jane’s favorite.

 I’ve tried baking premade Nestle Tollhouse cookies from the refrigerator section and premixed bags from the supermarket in the past, but nothing compares to baking from scratch.  Since I never baked before, I was a little intimidated by the ingredients, and was a little nervous during the process, but after following the recipe word for word, I just left it up to my harshest critic, Jane, to critique the cookie.  Fortunately for me, she loved it!  Over subsequent weeks, I continued baking Peanut Butter cookies and shared it with some of my coworkers, family, and even brought it to several parties and everyone that ate the cookie enjoyed it.  

The Peanut Butter cookie is full of sweet and lil’ salty, peanut buttery flavor goodness.  The outside is a little crisp and the inside is soft.  After one of my testers tasted, he told me he had to go make himself a peanut butter sandwich.   I think he was giving me thumbs up on the cookie.

Tip:  If you never baked before and want to save some money on the ingredients, try buying it at Wal-Mart or Target.  I find it much cheaper than buying at Safeway or Lucky.

I will continue testing recipes from the book and will definitely post it if it turns out good 🙂 

Ingredients (For about 15 cookies):
 
1 1/4 cup – All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon – Salt
1/4 teaspoon – Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon – Baking Powder
1 stick (8 tablespoon) – Unsalted Butter (Softened)
1/2 cup – Light Brown Sugar
1/2 cup – Granulated Sugar
1/2 cup – Creamy Peanut Butter (Preferably Skippy)
1 teaspoon – Vanilla Extract
1 – Egg (room temperature)
1/2 cup – Dry Roasted Peanuts (Crushed for texture)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix Flour, Salt, Baking Soda, and Baking Powder in a bowl
3. Mix Unsalted Butter, Light Brown Sugar, and Granulated Sugar in a large bowl until combined together with a fluffy consistency
4. Add Peanut Butter and combine until evenly distributed
5. Add egg, then combine until evenly distributed
6. Add vanilla extract, combine until evenly distributed
7. Slowly add flour into butter/sugar mixture combine dry and wet ingredients with a spatula
8. Mix in crushed dry roasted peanuts
9. Form balls and place on cookie tray ~2inches apart
10. Bake for 13-15 minutes until edges are brown
11. Take out of the oven and let sit on cookie tray for another 10 minutes.