Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

My daughter is allergic to peanuts and my son out of solidarity and/or convincing from his older sister always thought he was too. Even to this day he will not eat peanuts. So I was deprived of making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for them when they were younger. This also meant I never made peanut butter cookies back then either. Now that my kids are young adults and can fend for themselves, I find myself craving foods from my long lost childhood. Tonight, I caved in. Once in a while I find I need to treat myself to something sweet. I hope you treat yourself too.

This recipe yielded 32 cookies for me.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 stick butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus additional for rolling
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• jam or jelly flavor of your choice

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Set bowl aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl add butter and both granulated and brown sugar. Mix until fluffy. About 1-2 minutes.
3. Add peanut butter and mix another minute.
4. Add egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
5. Gradually add flour mixture to mixing bowl until just combined.
6. Cover cookie dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
8. Use a 1 tablespoon sized cookie scoop. Shape the dough into a ball and roll it into a shallow dish with some granulated sugar. Place the cookies about two inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Discard any leftover sugar used for rolling the cookies.
9. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes and the cookies are golden brown. Right after the cookies come out of the oven, make an indent in the center of each cookie using a clean 1 teaspoon measuring spoon. Use caution as the cookies will be very hot. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to fully cool.
10. Once the cookies have cooled fill the center with 1/4 teaspoon of your favorite jam or jelly.

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

Every Valentine’s Day I make cupcakes to give out to family and friends. This year, I’m trying something different. And easier and a lot less time consuming. Not that they aren’t worth the time or effort. But sometimes it’s nice to have a quick and easy recipe when you are giving out sweets to many.  Besides, who can resist soft and gooey, peanut butter and chocolate?

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup butter, (1 stick), melted
• 1/3 cup peanut butter (I used JIF smooth peanut butter; natural peanut butter can separate or be too oily)
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile line an 8 x 8 baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly cover foil with baking spray. Set aside.
2. In a large microwave-safe bowl melt the butter; about 1 minute on high power. Let cool for about 1 minute.
3. In the bowl with melted butter, add peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and egg.  Whisk until smooth.
4. Add the flour and stir until combined.
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Pour batter into prepared baking pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
7. Bake for 23-25 minutes, or until done. A toothpick inserted into center should come out clean, no batter.
8. Allow bars to cool for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.  Bars will keep at room temperature for up to 1 week.

 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today was a frustrating day. No need to share all the gory details. Just know that by the time I got home all I wanted to do is let out a scream. But instead of doing some retail therapy and buying myself a little something pretty, I decided to bake cookies for my mom. She’s the one with the sweet tooth in the family and I know how happy it makes her when I bring her a treat rather than just her prescriptions. Besides, concentrating on something else and letting the sweet smell of cookies baking fill my kitchen will also help me forget about the day I had.  I chose peanut butter chocolate chip cookies because I couldn’t decide between peanut butter or chocolate chip cookies. So here you get the peanut nutty taste combined with the soft chewy texture of a chocolate chip cookie.  This recipe yielded 30 cookies  for me.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used creamy style, but the choice is yours.)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (you can use 3/4 cup regular size if you like)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In large mixing bowl combine butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Using hand mixer, mix until creamy.
3. Add peanut butter, egg and vanilla extract. Mix until well blended.
4. Add baking powder, baking soda and flour and mix thoroughly.
5. Add milk and mix until dough is smooth and creamy in texture.
6. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the chocolate chips.
7. On a greased or lined cookie sheet, drop small one tablespoon balls of dough.
8. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until bottoms are light brown.
9. After 5 minutes, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.