Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

Laced in with the sadness of the past year have been surprising moments of joy. We have gathered with others who also loved our dear ones and in those gatherings there has been much celebration, gratitude, and laughter. Misery loves company. It gives the phrase a new meaning. I have found much solace among the company of others who are also miserable. I have witnessed amazing love and tenderness, made new friends, and reconnected with others who I had not seen in far too long.

During one of these gatherings, I realized that I don't have a good peanut butter cookie recipe. Riduculous, isn't it? My life seems to unfold that way, jumping from moments of despair and contemplation to the mundane and the trivial. The profound and the prosaic. The bitter and the sweet.

Of course, I had to remedy the situation that I could remedy, the lack-of-a-good-peanut-butter-cookie-recipe situation. So here it is: the perfect chewy, crunchy, intensely peanut butter-y peanut butter cookie.

Second Helping: Chocolate Sheet Cake with Brown Butter Cream Frosting (the favorite again this year for birthday month).
Thirds: Green Eggs, No Ham (a Dr. Seuss tribute)

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

Adapted from Alice Medrich's Chewy, Gooey, Crispy, Crunchy Melt-in-You Mouth Cookies

Medrich's recipe says that she usually chills the dough before baking for 2 hours, but that melting the butter instead is a reasonable substitute and makes for a chewier cookie. An approach that leads to instant gratification and a chewier cookie? Sold! I also changed things up a bit, substituting some whole wheat pastry flour and adding roasted peanuts to get more crunch.

Makes 3 dozen cookies
20 minutes preparation time
about 15 minutes baking time

1 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup roasted, salted peanuts out of the shell

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk the flours, salt, and baking soda together in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, use a mixer to mix together the sugars and butter until thoroughly combined. Add the egg, vanilla, and peanut butter and mix again until all of the ingredients are fully incorporated. Add the flour mixture and the peanuts and mix again, this time until the ingredients are just combined.

Scoop generous tablespoonfuls of cookie dough, and form them into balls. Arrange the balls on the lined cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Flatten each ball with the tines of a fork into a cross hatch pattern.

Bake the cookies for 14 to 16 minutes until they are lightly golden brown in color. Medrich always rotates her cookie sheets from top to bottom and from front to back, which I am sure makes for perfectly-evenly cooked cookies. I forget to do that about half of the time, but the cookies are still delicious.

Cool the cookies on a baking rack. They will keep in an airtight container for 2 weeks.

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