Who doesn’t like the flavor of peanut butter? If you’ve ever starved your way through college as I did, I don’t think I would have made it without a jumbo jar of creamy Jif and a big pack of wonder bread. But thankfully, there is comfort in every delightful spoonful of peanut butter.
Peanut butter is healthy in every dish
If there is one thing that peanut butter is best-known for -is not always slathered onto bread with a generous spread of jelly. I love how I can make tasty Thai chicken pasta or a spicy peanut butter pork sandwich that both feature different signature flavors. If not for the versatility of stir fry and African dishes, peanut butter might not add such depth in taste. Then again, adding a dollop to my butternut squash soup isn’t out of the question either.
I’ve found that my chili recipe always becomes a real treat with a bit of peanut butter or with my African chicken and sweet potatoes. It just seems fitting that it goes so well with Thai veggie dip all the way through peanut butter and cream cheese fruit dip! I really like how peanut butter brightens the flavor of meats such as pork while giving a smooth and pleasant taste to stronger meats like lamb. Peanut butter is among the most versatile healthy ingredient you can work into endless dishes.
If I had to choose which recipe that peanut butter works best in is certainly baked sweets and cookies. This is one of my biggest guilty pleasures that brings out memories of my childhood helping my mother in the kitchen, making it one of my favorite recipes. And if you love peanut butter cookies too, then you’ll want to try this classic old-fashioned recipe that always brings me back every time I make it at home.
Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie tray
- Silicone-coated baking paper
- Medium-sized bowl
- Baking paper
- Baking sheet
- Cooling rack
Ingredients
- 2 Cups All-purpose flour
- 1 Cup Unsalted butter (2 sticks- room temperature)
- 1 Cup Peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
- 1 Cup Brown sugar (packed)
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 Teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla extract
Instructions
- To prepare for making these cookies, you start with taking a cookie tray and lining it with silicone-coated baking paper. You can preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit because this mixture is very simple to prepare.
- Take a medium-sized bowl and add your flour, baking powder, salt and blend these together on medium-high. Into a standard bowl mixer, you want to beat the butter, peanut butter, and vanilla extract until everything is blended well.
- Now you can add the brown sugar and mix this further with the butter mixture. Use a spatula to scrape the side of your mixing bowl and then add one egg at a time. After this, you can add the dry mixture reducing the speed to low.
- When the dough mixture has thickened enough, it’s time to start rolling dough balls. Take a tablespoon and scoop this into your dough mixture. This can be rolled into a ball with your hands no bigger than 1-inches in diameter.
- Place each ball onto the baking paper and space them 2-inches apart from each other. Then the best part of this recipe is to make the chicken scratches. Using a standard dinner fork, the edges of each side of a dough ball are pressed down.
- The dough will look similar to a chicken scratching at each corner of your dough, which is why they’re called chicken scratches’. Now place the cookie tray into the oven and bake for 12-14 minutes.
- When the cookies are golden brown along the bottom and appear dry on top, they are fully baked. This baking sheet needs to be removed and allowed to sit for 5 minutes. Each cookie can be transferred to a cooling rack so they will cool sooner to eat them right away.
