Sugar Savvy

We’ve already covered one essential cookie — the sugar cookie — but today we move on to the peanut butter cookie. The perfect peanut butter cookie cookie recipe eluded me for a long time. Every attempt was either too dry or too cakey. Then, one day, I checked out the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook from the library and decided to give their recipe a try. Lo and behold, it was excellent.

If you like a little chocolate with your peanut butter (who doesn’t?) try subbing some chocolate chips for peanut butter chips. For crunch, throw in some salted peanuts. My secret ingredient, not reflected in the recipe, is a little bit of cinnamon. It’ll keep everyone guessing!

Peanut Butter Cookies
adapted from Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

Ingredients:
1-1/4 c. flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
8 tbsp. butter, room temperature
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. peanut butter chips
2 tbsp. sugar, for rolling

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Cream the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated. Stir in the peanut butter chips. Roll tablespoons of dough in the extra sugar, then place the ball of dough on a greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly with a fork to create a crisscross pattern. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and let the cookies stand on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before moving to wire racks to cool completely. Yields about 3 dozen cookies.