Peanut butter cookies

Lately I’ve been baking a lot. Must be because of the cold… The other day I made these peanut butter cookies and they were gone-in-five-minutes delicious!

This wasn’t my first attempt though; the first time the cookies were good, but they spread too much and didn’t keep their characteristic crisscross pattern on top. I think the problem was that I didn’t have shortening, so I bought a can of Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening and problem solved!

I know there are people who avoid the use of shortening. First I want to say that once in a while it can’t be THAT bad; however I found some info about substitutes for shortening if you are planning on making these every week ;)  Here’s the info from Cook’s Thesaurus:

Shortening = vegetable shortening   Notes: Crisco is a popular brand.  Substitutes:  butter (1 cup shortening = 1 cup + 2 tablespoons butter; butter is better tasting than shortening but more expensive and has cholesterol and a higher level of saturated fat; makes cookies less crunchy, bread crusts more crispy) OR margarine (1 cup shortening = 1 cup + 2 tablespoons margarine; margarine is better tasting than shortening, but more expensive; makes cookies less crunchy, bread crusts tougher) OR lard (1 C shortening = 1 C – 2 tablespoons lard; lard has cholesterol and a higher level of saturated fat) I hope it helps.

Today’s recipe is from a cute page called peanutbutterlovers.com. They have tons of recipes and information about PB. I made only one change to their recipe; instead of creamy Pb I used crunchy Pb, so I didn’t add the roasted peanuts.

Ingredients

Makes 24 cookies

1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour, sifted

¼ cup creamy peanut butter

¼ cup shortening

¼ cup unsalted butter, softened

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 large egg

½ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup roasted peanuts, chopped

Directions

Combine shortening, butter, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar and egg. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix dry ingredients into peanut butter mixture. Add chopped peanuts and stir. Chill batter. Shape into 1-inch balls and put on baking sheet. Flatten with a fork dipped in sugar, making a crisscross pattern. Bake at 375 ºF (190 ºC) for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Sources: Peanutbutterlovers.com    & Cook’s Thesaurus