Best Peanut Butter Cookies . . . Ever!

My mom's favourite cookie of all time is the peanut butter cookie. Every birthday, Mother's Day, anyday, I like to make her a batch because I know she likes them so much. I used to make the cookies from the recipe on the back on the Kraft Peanut Butter jars, but this February (her birthday), she commented (as did Gabriel) that she preferred chewier peanut butter cookies over the crispy ones that this recipe yields. Instead of going back to the books, looking for a different recipe and figuring out which is best through trial and error, this time I applied my newly acquired cookie-science-know-how and came up with my OWN recipe. It was fantastic. The cookies are sweet, peanut-buttery, and oh so moist and chewy. Gabriel says that the only way I could improve it is to find a way to pack in even more peanut butter taste. In the mean time, this recipe rocks. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies
(Download PDF here)

Ingredient List
bread flour (1¼ cup)
butter (½ cup)
brown sugar (¾ cup)
granulated sugar (¼ cup)
peanut butter (smooth or crunchy) (½ cup)
egg (1 large)
vanilla extract
baking powder
baking soda
table salt

Directions
Combine in a small bowl: 1¼ cup bread flour, ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp table salt.

Heat ½ cup butter until just melted.

In a medium bowl, beat together: melted butter, ¾ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar. Beat in ½ cup peanut butter, followed by 1 large egg and 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Gradually add the dry ingredients until completely incorporated and uniform in texture and colour.

Form dough into balls and place on baking sheets. Gently flatten dough balls, partially with hands, then with fork tines, making the criss-cross markings on the top.

Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before baking.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Bake for 9-11 minutes until bottom edges of cookies begin to brown and the middle of the cookies appear set. Let the cookies rest on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Makes 18 cookies with a 35-disher.

Notes
If bread flour is not available, AP flour can be substituted but cookies will not be as chewy in texture. In this case, beating the mixture for an extra minute after incorporating the flour will help produce more gluten, making the cookies slightly chewier.

Nutrition (per cookie)
Calories 157
Total fat 9 g
Saturated fat 4 g
Cholesterol 24 mg
Sodium 141 mg
Carbohydrate 17 g
Dietary fibre 1 g
Sugars 9 g
Protein 3 g
Vitamin A 3 %DV
Vitamin C 0 %DV
Calcium 2 %DV
Iron 3 %DV

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