Sunday 8 February 2015

Peanut Butter Cookies

There is a cookie for everyone. No one can resist a good cookie to go with a glass of milk or a cup of tea/coffee.

The important question for me would be: Chewy or Crunchy?
I like my cookies crunchy - chewy ones remind me of flapjacks.

Nutty cookies are my favourite as the nuts help to cancel out some of the sweetness of the cookies and make them very more-ish. Have you tried Mark and Spencer's crunchy pistachio cookies? Best cookies, EVER. I will be trying to recreate it at a later date, when I have moved in and settled in to my new abode.
I have already moved in but the stress of a first time home ownership and work has made me go quiet of late so I do apologise but fingers crossed that's me getting motivated again. I have been in my new house for 2 weeks now and I still haven't unpacked everything - I still need to clean the old place to hand back to the landlord so still freaking out a little!

Right, back to the cookies. I must admit, cookies are not my strong point and I have only been successful with 3 cookie recipes in my baking life:
Choc chip cookies - recipe from Marcus Wareing's "How to Cook the Perfect...".
Oatmeal Cookies.
And the Peanut Butter Cookies recipe below. I found this recipe in one of the first baking books I ever bought (from a 99p shop!) and I still go back to it for inspiration at times. This book is simply called, "Home Baking".
Again, I adjusted the ingredients and baking time slightly in order to achieve a more nutty taste. 
What's your favourite cookie?






Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
115g Butter, softened
120g Crunchy Peanut Butter
100g Golden Caster Sugar
80g Dark Muscovado Sugar(original recipe asks for light but I prefer the nuttiness of the dark)
1 Egg, beaten
1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence
85g Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
pinch of salt
115g Rolled Oats

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 180ºC and prep 2-3 baking sheets by greasing them.
  • Place the butter and peanut butter in a bowl and beat until well combined.
  • Beat in both the sugars until light.
  • Gradually beat in the egg and vanilla essence.



  • Sift together the flour, bicarb, baking powder and salt, then add to the peanut butter mixture.
  • Add the oats and stir everything together.
  • Drop spoonfuls of the mixture on to your baking sheets, spacing them well apart.
  • Flatten slightly with a fork.
  • Bake for 12-15 mins, until lightly browned. If you want them to be more crunchy then check on them every minute or so after 13mins to ensure they don't burn.
  • Cool on the sheets for 2mins and then transfer them to wire racks to finish off the cooling process.

Great with a cup of espresso!