Peanut Butter Cookies

Everyone that has tried these cookies have said they are wonderful and have a unique flavor. I can’t place the flavor, but the cookies are great. They are from David Lebovitz’s cookbook, “Ready for Dessert”. Enjoy!

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Beat together the butter, sugars, and peanut butter in an electric mixer until smooth.

Beat in the egg.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until the dough just comes together.

Chill and cover dough for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Remove dough from refrigerator and let it come to room temperature. Pinch off pieces of dough and roll into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in sugar and place on parchment-lined baking sheet.

Flatten and make a crosshatch pattern for each cookie by using the back of a fork.

Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes at 350 degrees or until edges begin to brown, but the center still looks soft.

Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups (175 g) all-purpose flour
1 T. baking powder (make sure it is aluminum free)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar, plus more for coating the cookies
1/2 cup (120 g) packed light brown sugar
1 cup (260 g) creamy peanut butter (not natural-style)
1 large egg, at room temperature

Directions
1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl by hand), beat together the butter, granulated and brown sugars, and the peanut butter on medium speed just until smooth. Beat in the egg. Add the flour mixture and mix just until the dough comes together. If necessary, knead the dough with your hands until smooth.
3. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours or up to overnight. (The rest gives the ingredients time to meld so the cookies bake up especially softy and chewy.)
4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour some granulated sugar into a small bowl.
6. Pinch off pieces of dough and roll them into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the granulated sugar and place them 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten and make a crosshatch pattern on each cookie by pressing down on the ball with the back of the tines of a fork.
7. Bake until the cookies begin to brown around the edges but the centers still look somewhat uncooked, 9 to 10 minutes. (Remove them from the oven before they look done so they’ll stay chewy once cooled.)
8. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to handle, then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack.

Yield: 30 cookies

Paula’s Chocolate Oatmeal Dawg Cookies

My husband, Matt, grew up eating these chocolate oatmeal cookies almost everyday. My mother-in-law, Paula, would make these cookies for Matt as an after-school snack and before every sports game he played. Paula was famous for her cookies! All the neighborhood kids knew it, and would come over to her house, begging her to make them. They’re nicknamed “dawg” cookies… but I don’t know why!

By the time Matt was in 7th grade, he had mastered his mom’s chocolate oatmeal cookies. He even won a cooking contest for them, as seen here in this early 1990s article from The Longview Times. Wasn’t he cute??? Haha.

Even though Matt is all grown-up, he still can’t get enough of his mom’s cookies. Okay, maybe not everyday as an afternoon snack, but it’s probably every time we go over to visit Paula that she whips up a batch for us.

It took me about 5 tries to finally get these cookies “they way mom makes them”, according to Matt. I think my problem was that I used rolled oats instead of instant oats…it sure makes a difference!

Finally, did I mention that Matt eats these from the pan itself? Nope, he doesn’t wait for them to cook; he eats them like chocolate pudding. Crazy, right? Talk about lots of cookie batter!

What’s the only thing Matt wants from his parents when they’re gone? (Which is hopefully not for a super long time.) Nope, not money. Not stocks. Not fine jewelry… just his mom’s chocolate oatmeal cookie “pan”.

Enjoy!

The ingredients.

Bring to a boil sugar, water, and cocoa powder on stovetop until soft ball stage.

Paula and Matt know when they reach the soft ball stage by dropping bit of the mixture into water to see if a tiny ball forms.

Off the heat and stir in the butter.

Then add the oatmeal,and vanilla. Stir until melted and combined.

Eat from the pan like my husband does…

…or drop onto wax paper and let cool (the way I like them).

Paula’s Chocolate Oatmeal “Dawg” Cookies
Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 stick butter
1/4-1/2 cup peanut butter
2 cups oatmeal, quick-cooking
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions
1. Boil sugar, water, and cocoa until the mixture reaches a soft ball stage.
2. Remove pan from heat and add butter, peanut butter, oatmeal, and vanilla.
3. Stir together until melted and combined.
4. Eat from pan or drop onto wax paper.
5. Let cool and serve.

Yield: 1 full serving for a 7th grader…or about 2-3 dozen cookies.
Recipe from: My mother-in-law, Paula

Nutty Chocolate Chunk Cookies (David Lebovitz)

My mom loves trying new recipes for chocolate chip cookies. This is probably her 20th chocolate chip cookie recipe to try. They come from David Lebovitz’s newest cookbook, “Ready for Dessert”. When making these, my mom used a food scale and actually measured out the flour, sugar, and nuts in grams rather than in cups. Weighing ingredients on a scale is actually a more accurate way to measure.

If you like nuts, you will love these cookies! We toasted macadamia nuts, walnuts, and pecans, and added Nestle chocolate chunks. Enjoy!

Whisk together dry ingredients, then add to butter, sugars, vanilla, and egg mixture. Stir in chocolate chunks and nuts.

On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into quarters.

Shape each quarter into a log about 9 inches long. Wrap logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 24 hours.

Bake cookies for 10 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through at 350 degrees.

Nutty Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups (350 g) flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup (8 oz/225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (215 g) packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups (225 g) nuts, such as walnuts, pecans, and macadamia nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
14 oz (400g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/2 to 1 inch chunks or 3 cups (340 g) chocolate chunks (Regular chocolate chips are designed to resist melting, so I use chocolate chunks instead so they will melt and create a gooey cookie).

Directions
1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until just smooth.
3. Beat in eggs one at a time until thoroughly incorporated, then stir in the flour mixture followed by the nuts and chocolate chunks.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into quarters. Shape each quarter into a log about 9 inches long. Wrap he logs in plastic and refrigerated until firm, preferably 24 hours.
5. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
6. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
7. Slice the logs into disks 3/4 inch thick and place the disks 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
8. Bake, rotating the baking sheets midway through baking, until the cookies are very lightly browned in the centers, about 10 minutes. If you like soft chocolate chip cookies, as I do, err on the side of underbaking.
9. Let cookies cool on baking sheets until firm enough to handle, then transfer to a wire rack.

Yield 48 cookies

Jolene’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I call these “Jolene’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies” because everytime I visit my aunt, she makes them for me.

These along with the Neiman Marcus cookies are my favorite chocolate chip cookies in the world! Unlike the Neimans cookies, these have ground oatmeal in them, some nuts, and a milk chocolate candy bar.

The original recipe makes 112 cookies, but I fourthed the recipe and made about 2 dozen cookies.

Enjoy! You won’t be disappointed! 🙂

chocoatmealcookies — Cream together the butter with sugars.

Jolene's Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies — Grind the oats in food processor into a fine powder. Add the flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips and nuts to the wet mixture

Jolene’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Serves: 2 dozen

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 1/4 cup oatmeal, grind in a food processor until fine powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 oz chocolate chips
2 oz hershey bar, chopped into chunks
3/4 cup chopped nuts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar with electric mixer
Add egg and vanilla
Mix together flour, ground oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda
Add dry ingredients to wet mixture
Stir in chocolate chips, chopped hershey bar, and chopped nuts
Make golf ball sized cookies spaced 2 inches apart on parchment-lined or silpat cookie sheet.
Bake for 8-9 minutes.

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie is my all-time favorite cookie recipe in the entire world. Why?

They are super easy and I always have the ingredients.
They only make two dozen cookies.
Neiman Marcus is where I buy all my clothes. (Right, in my dreams!)

P.S. My mother-in-law (Paula), and my husband’s best friend (Kenny) are HUGE fans of these. These are my “go-to” cookies for when I have company over at the house.

Enjoy and I hope I make a Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookie fan out of you!

Add the butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar.

Next mix in the egg and vanilla.

Once you’ve added the dry ingredients, expresso, and chocolate chips, form into balls onto a greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, and voila! I like them very chewy, so I bake them for the shorter amount of time.

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use half Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chunks and half Guittard milk chocolate for added sweetness)
1 1/2 tsp instant expresso coffee powder

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Place the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in the workbowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds until the mixture is fluffy.
3. Beat in the egg and vanilla for 30 seconds longer, until well combined.
4. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the mixer, while beating on slow speed.
5. Beat for about 15 seconds, stir in the chocolate chips and expresso powder, and mix for 15 seconds longer.
6. Prepare a cookie sheet with about 2 tablespoons of shortening (or nonstick spray). Using a 1 oz scoop or 2 tablespoon measure, drop the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet in dollops with 3 inches apart. Gently press down on the dough with the back of a spoon to spread out into 2 inch circles.
7. Transfer to the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until cookies are nicely browned around the edges. Bake longer for crispier cookies.

Yields: 2 dozen
Recipe from: Neiman Marcus Cookbook by Kevin Garvin and John Harrisson

Tastes Like the Inside of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookie

This recipe fulfills its name and they are incredibly easy to make. They were my first peanut butter cookie recipe to make and I would say its a keeper. The recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman’s ‘Tasty Kitchen’.

Tastes Like the Inside of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookie

Ingredients
1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky-I used smooth)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients until incorporated.
3. Drop by tablespoonfuls or cookie scoops onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Use a fork to flatten dough because they don’t spread much.
4. Bake for 8-10 minutes. They will not look done, but they are.
5. Let cool 5 minutes before taking them off the cookie sheet and placing them on a cooling rack.