Peanut Butter Cookies

This one time...

no, not at band camp.

Although I have been to band camp. Technically marching band camp in the summers before high school. You gotta practice if your band is going to make a script Chemics at halftime. Knees up! Knees up!

 

Anyway, back to my story-- this one time, in middle school, my friend Erin and I decided to make peanut butter cookies. I can't really remember what recipe we were following or if we were just making it up as we went along, but regardless we didn't read how you are supposed to roll the cookies in sugar before you bake them. Instead we ended up with a sticky mess- like all over her parents' kitchen covering the cabinets and floor, all over our hands, and all over the cookie sheets. I'm not even sure if we had any edible cookies at the end of the debacle. I'm guessing we ate a lot of the dough along the way though.

Now anytime I make peanut butter cookies I always make sure to roll them in sugar. Well, at least most kinds of peanut butter cookies, maybe some don't need it. These do. Maybe it is the sugar coating that makes them addictive. Or maybe it is the peanut butter. Whatever it is, I'm sure you won't be able to just eat one. ;)

Peanut Butter Cookies (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook)
Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup), softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tbsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
additional granulated sugar for rolling

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F.

Using an electric mixture, beat the butter and peanut butter on high for 1 minute. Add the sugar, brown sugar, baking soda and baking powder and beat until combined. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the in flour and continue to beat until completely mixed. Chill dough for about 10 minutes.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in the additional granulated sugar and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each by making a criss-cross mark with a fork.

Bake for 7-9 minutes until browned. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.