Peanut Butter Cookies

I "accidently" ate some of these cookies for breakfast yesterday.  Eating cookies at 7am is not something I normally do, but we forgot to make steel cut oatmeal the night before and, well, it was early and they were sitting there on the table and didn't require any effort.  I justified it by telling myself that if I were having pancakes I would have put peanut butter on them for protein, so it was kind of like the same thing...

It had been ages since I last made peanut butter cookies.  I had forgotten how addictive they can be.  If Scott and I hadn't given some of them away yesterday, I think we might have eaten the whole batch in three days!  Everyone seems to have his or her own favorite recipe for standard peanut butter cookies, and this is mine.  

Ingredients:
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup chunky peanut butter
¾ cup white sugar
¾ cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼-½ cup of sugar for coating

Yields approximately 4 dozen cookies

Notes:
These cookies are at the softer and slightly crumbly end of the peanut butter cookie spectrum.  I did try rolling some of the cookies in maple sugar instead of regular sugar prior to baking.  The maple sugar ones browned a little more quickly than the white sugar cookies, but there wasn't a huge difference in taste.  So, if you are looking for a way to use up some maple sugar in your pantry, try it out, otherwise, the regular sugar works perfectly fine. 

Mix and Chill:
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and set it aside.  In a separate bowl, beat the butter until it is creamy, add both types of sugar, and beat until the mixture is fluffy.  Add the peanut butter and beat until it is well combined, then add the egg and vanilla, and beat until they are incorporated.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture all at once, and beat until no more flour streaks remain and the dough just begins comes together.  Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to chill. 

Shape, Flatten, and Bake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Line two baking sheets with Silpat mats or parchment paper.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator.  If it was in the refrigerator for several hours, it may need to rest a few minutes at room temperature until it is pliable.  Place a 1/4 cup of sugar in a shallow bowl.  Break off about a tablespoon of dough (approximately 20 grams), and roll it into a ball.  Roll the ball in the sugar to coat it, and place the ball on the prepared cookie sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough, using additional sugar if necessary, and space the dough balls 2-3 inches apart.  Once each cookie sheet is full, use the back of a fork to gently flatten each dough ball until it is about half an inch thick.  Rotate the fork 90° and press each cookie again so they have a cross-hatch pattern.  Bake at 350°F for 10-12  minutes, until the cookies are lightly browned.  Remove the cookie sheets from the oven, and allow the cookies to rest for 4 minutes until they are set.  Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.  Store in an airtight container. 

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