Peanut Butter Cookies
Once My Hungry Boys was up and running, I recognized that reality is often different from expectations. I didn’t expect 40% of my audience to be international. Because I did not anticipate so many international readers, I had not included metric measurements in my recipes. To better serve my international readers, I’m still working to think in terms of metric, which has been long overdue as metric makes so much more sense than the ounces and pounds I grew up using. I’m thrilled with having an international audience, as I have always enjoyed meeting people different from myself and from different cultures. I have received such kind and supportive notes from such a wide variety of places written by people I would never have met without My Hungry Boys. In this case, reality exceeded expectations.
I understand that peanut butter, loved in the United States, is not equally enjoyed everywhere. As the global pandemic and the internet has taught us: We are all more alike than different, and more connected than we thought. Although peanut butter is expensive and difficult to find in many other countries, maybe it’s just a matter of time until peanut butter is readily available everywhere.
I love peanut butter and I love cookies, so for me peanut butter cookies are a perfect combination. Sadly, I usually find peanut butter cookies lacking the jolt of peanut butter flavor I crave - so I came up with this version that really packs a peanut butter punch. In addition to the powerful peanut flavor, they’re incredibly tender. This cookie batter also freezes beautifully, so I form them and freeze a dozen. A peanut butter cookie is only a few minutes away when needed.
Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes 2 dozen cookies
1 stick or 8 tablespoons (4 ounces or 113 grams) butter - room temperature
1 cup (9 ounces or 255 grams) peanut butter
½ cup (3.5 ounces or 99 grams) granulated sugar
½ cup (3.8 ounces or 108 grams) light brown sugar
2 egg yolks
1½ cups (6.4 ounces or 181 grams) all-purpose flour (see note on how I measure flour here)
½ teaspoon (3 grams) baking soda
¼ teaspoon (1 gram) baking powder
½ teaspoon (2.5 grams) kosher salt
½ teaspoon (3 grams) vanilla extract
Cream butter and peanut butter until thoroughly combined. Add sugars and beat well. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to peanut butter in three additions. Add vanilla. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Roll dough into 1” (2.5 cm) balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Use a fork to make tine marks in a crisscross pattern. Bake 10-13 minutes for cold dough or 15 minutes for frozen dough. Cool completely before removing from the cookie sheet as the cookies are very fragile when warm.
