Old-fashioned chewy peanut butter cookies

Classic cookie stands the test of time!

There’s nothing particularly innovative about this recipe – it just tastes really, really good. I don’t even like peanut butter and yet I love these cookies! I like to underbake them just a bit so they retain their soft, chewy texture even a couple of days after baking. As with most cookie dough, I like to form the whole batch into dough balls and freeze most of them, baking up just a dozen or so at a time. The time it takes for your oven to preheat is just about enough thawing time for frozen dough balls. While I adore these cookies because they remind me of my childhood, I am also a big fan of these vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 (625 mL) cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking powder
• 1 cup (250 mL) (packed) brown sugar
• 1 cup (250 mL) white sugar
• 1 cup (250 mL) softened (not melted) butter
• 1 cup (250 mL) creamy peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons (10 mL) good-quality vanilla
• 2 large eggs

Method

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Mix flour and baking powder together in a medium bowl.
• Using electric mixer (or a stand mixer if you have one), beat butter, peanut butter and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended.
• Beat in both sugars, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of bowl.
• Stir half of dry ingredients into mixture.
• Add eggs 1 at a time, stirring well after each addition.
• Mix in rest of dry ingredients until well incorporated.
• Roll 1 heaping tablespoonfuls of dough into 1 inch balls.
• Arrange dough balls 2 inches apart on parchment-paper lined baking sheets.
• Using the tines of a fork dipped in white sugar, flatten the dough balls and form crosshatch design on tops.
• Bake cookies until just turning golden around the edges; about 8 – 10 minutes.
• Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or freeze for up to a year.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies; recipe can easily be halved.