Week 31: Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies

Alright, let’s do something simple that requires no excessive refrigeration (or freezing).

This week I decided to do a recipe I actually hadn’t done before, and that is a peanut butter cookie. Also, something unusual happened that I was not expecting when I put in the last batch of cookies for baking, which I will get to later.

The only random ingredient required for this recipe is shortening, which they call “vegetable shortening” when you get them from the grocery store. I guess it’s so people wouldn’t confuse it with the non-existent “meat shortening”.

One thing to make sure of is that anytime the recipe calls for brown and white sugar, make sure you whisk them together in a separate bowl before you combine it with butter (or shortening and peanut butter, in this recipe).

Once all the ingredients are combined, the dough is scooped into balls onto aluminum sheets lined with parchment paper. I use parchment paper for all my recipes since it makes cleanup much easier.

The recipe calls for “1-1/2-in balls”, but if you want to make it easier on yourself, I use the Oxo Good Grips Medium Cookie Scoop. I don’t get any sort of commission if you use that link, it’s mostly for reference. The diameter of the scoop is indeed 1.5″ across, so it makes perfectly-sized balls for this recipe. Below shows how they look on the cookie sheet.

Once the balls are scooped and plopped on the cookie sheet, you need to squish them down with a fork or a meat mallet (lol, that’s a funny name). I don’t have a meat mallet (lol), so I just used a fork.

Once they are done baking, they spread a little bit, and this is the final result:

This recipe made more cookies than I thought it would, so I put the last few cookies on a cookie sheet and threw them in the oven. Unfortunately(?), I forgot to squish them down with a fork, and this was the result:

I find it odd that they actually looked pretty good without the squishing down. Plus, I feel like they look more presentable, like small flat bread rolls.

This is a perfect recipe to make with some planning ahead, as you need three eggs to be at room temperature. The only things you really need to be sure of is shortening and peanut butter.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the white and brown sugar. Set it aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream shortening, peanut butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well.
5. Roll into 1-1/2-in. balls. Place 3 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten with a fork or meat mallet if desired. Bake 10-15 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

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