peanut butter cookies

If you are a fan of peanut flavor and Christmas cookies, you will love this recipe for peanut butter cookies (or what is the same, the popular Peanut Butter Cookies ).

This is a very American recipe, but it is becoming more and more popular here. I discovered it from Cheryl Day's Treasury of Southern Baking, and although I am not a big fan of peanut butter and I made the cookies for them to enjoy at home, I must admit that these cookies are delicious.

These cookies are rustic in appearance and free of any pretensions, but their peanut butter content, maple syrup and brown sugar bring out some very fascinating notes. They smell like trees, wood, and their rustic flavor is really delicious with a good cup of coffee in the morning.

They are perfect cookies for the little ones, and also to take out after a good meal, while enjoying dessert.

With this recipe you will get a good amount of cookies, which you can keep for up to three days in perfect condition (although we already know that there is nothing like a freshly baked cookie)!

You will see below that I suggest you make them with flaky salt, but I also encourage you to try them topped with marshmallows. They give the cookie that American touch and add a wonderful texture and flavour to enjoy them in a different way.

Ingredients (for about 24 cookies)

• 3/4 cup all-purpose wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 1 cup peanut butter*
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp pure Madagascar vanilla extract
• 1 cup honey roasted peanuts
• Flaky salt, for sprinkling

*You can use homemade peanut butter (which is the same as peanut butter). Making it is very easy, you can see how in this post .

Preparation

1. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of your KitchenAid if using a mixer or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer, mix the butter, both sugars and the maple syrup on medium speed until super light and fluffy (3 to 5 minutes; the sugar should be incorporated and no granules should be visible).
3. Add the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Reduce speed to low and gradually add half of the flour mixture, mixing until combined. Then add the remaining half of the flour and mix until combined as well. Stir in the peanuts.
4. Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a hand spatula, finish mixing, making sure that there are no remains at the bottom of the bowl and that everything is well integrated. The dough is ready.
5. Cover with plastic and let rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 170ºC.
7. Line two baking trays with baking paper and use a tablespoon to scoop out the biscuits (about 1 heaping tablespoon for each biscuit).
8. Form the round cookies on the baking sheets. Place them a couple of fingers apart so they have room to expand. When you have spread out all the dough, use a fork to press lightly on the surface of each cookie, so that the tines of the fork remain marked. Do this twice, once vertically and once horizontally, to create the classic old-school criss-cross pattern.
9. As a finishing touch, sprinkle a pinch of flaky salt on top of each cookie.
10. Place the trays in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. Rotate the trays so that they brown evenly. When finished baking, let them cool on a cooling rack to crisp up.

TIP! If you want, instead of salt flakes, you can put chopped or rolled marshmallows on top of the cookies (add it before baking). The sweet, soft, toasted flavor of the marshmallows contrasts with the peanut flavor of the cookie and they taste delicious. If you make them this way, I also invite you to sprinkle a pinch of brown sugar on top of the marshmallow, to finish the cookie in a brighter and prettier way.

Marshmallows are a great way to vary the recipe and bring smiles! You can also bake both, some with salt and others with marshmallows, and discover which ones you like best at home.

Grades

• If you want, you don't have to bake all the cookies on the same day: you can freeze part of the dough or, even more conveniently, once you have the cookies formed on the tray, you can freeze them as is, already formed (if you have a large freezer, put the tray in it, otherwise transfer the formed cookies into a smaller container or a zip-top bag). That way, on the day you want to enjoy them, you'll just have to turn on the oven and bake them for a few minutes. It's convenient and you can enjoy freshly baked cookies more often! You can store the frozen dough for up to 2-3 months.

• For baking cookies, there's nothing like a good perforated tray or a cookie base. Discover all the ones we have in the cookie tray section and use them not only for that, but also for baking pizzas, making puff pastry, shortcrust pastry, breads... A tray is a kitchen essential!
• Once baked, cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature and in a dry place for up to 3 days. We have some cookie containers ideal for this in the Stands and Storage section.
• You can find peanut butter or cream in any large supermarket these days. Look in the section with cocoa and hazelnut spreads or ask for it.