Peanut Butter Cookies

My friend Ronni always made the best peanut butter cookies.  She made the kind of cookies that were light and dissolved in your mouth.  I tried to replicate them for years and finally realized you have to follow the directions explicitly.  The ingredients have to be beaten in separately, as listed.  No trying to take shortcuts and throw them all together!  This recipe means business!

With the arrival of my new stand mixer, I was reminded of these cookies recently.  It’s easier to make mixer-heavy recipes now and this cookie recipe is definitely one of them.  It’s not complicated, but it does take pre-planning to succeed.  I make sure all of my ingredients are in bowls next to the mixer, ready to add in their turn.  The rest is easy.

I started by mixing the dry ingredients in a bowl, whisking them to blend well.  I set the bowl near my stand mixer.  Next I put the butter into the bowl of the mixer, but didn’t start it yet!  I needed the rest in bowls nearby, first.  Into bowls went the sugar, the brown sugar, the peanut butter and an egg.  Now I was ready to start the mixing.

I turned the power to medium and beat the butter until it was fluffy.  Next I added the sugar and let that beat until it was well mixed.  The brown sugar came next, beating away until the brown sugar was mixed as well.  The peanut butter was beaten in next, spinning away until it looked fully mixed into the dough.  The egg was added to the bowl and again the beater mixed the dough well.

Finally I turned the speed to low and slowly added the dry mixture, letting it beat in and meld with the wet ingredients.  Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the whole mixing process!  It’s pretty basic cookie making, I think you’ll be fine without them.

Using a small cookie scoop, make balls of dough and place on ungreased sheet pan. Make crisscross on each cookie with a fork.

I removed the bowl from the mixer and scooped tablespoons of dough onto baking sheets, about 2″ apart, then baked each sheet in the oven for 10 minutes.  You’ll want to adjust the timing to accommodate your oven’s temperatures.

Bake 8-10 minutes until cookies are browned around the edges.

I set the pan on a rack and let the cookies cool before removing them to a rack to finish cooling.

Cool several minutes on pan then remove to rack to finish cooling.

I stored the cookies in covered containers and froze some in small packages to keep them fresh longer.

Peanut Butter Cookies

The cookies were just as heavenly as I’d remembered, each bite melting in my mouth.  Butter, rich with peanut butter flavor, they were the cookies of my dreams.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Ronni's Peanut Butter Cookies

• Servings: 45 cookies
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

The best peanut butter cookies dissolve in your mouth with peanut buttery goodness.

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 egg

Preheat oven to 350°F

Whisk flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer cream butter, sugar, brown sugar and peanut butter, creaming after each addition until light and fluffy.

Add egg and mix thoroughly.

Add flour mixture gradually. Beat until smooth.

Drop mixture, 1 teaspoon at a time with a cookie scoop about 2″ apart on ungreased baking sheet. Flatten with a fork 2 times to form a crisscross pattern on the cookie surface.

Bake 8-10 min. Remove from oven and cool on the pan for several minutes before removing to racks to cool completely.