Hello friends!

In my last entry, I mentioned how much I love chocolate chip cookies. I stand by that love, and that recipe, but they’re not the only cookies I love. The very first cookie recipe I ever created for myself was this one, for peanut butter cookies. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not claiming to have invented peanut butter cookies, I’m only saying this is my idealized recipe. These are my go-to peanut butter cookies, the ones I happily serve at work and at home.

600 grams brown sugar

300 grams room temperature butter

600 grams peanut butter

2 eggs

10 grams vanilla (2 teaspoons)

500 grams all purpose flour

10 grams salt

5 grams baking soda

100 grams heavy cream

Begin by creaming together the butter and brown sugar. For a consistent spread, I recommend timing the creaming process. Starting with room temperature butter, and creaming at medium speed, 3 1/2 minutes will produce a properly spread cookie.

Once properly creamed, blend in the peanut butter, then the eggs and vanilla. It is very important to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, as well as the sides of the paddle, at this point. After all, the point of mixing ingredients is to produce a homogenous mixture. While this isn’t difficult, it does require thorough scraping.

Add in the flour, salt, and baking soda. It is not necessary to spend a great deal of time mixing at this point; just enough to make sure the ingredients are properly blended. Again, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, as well as the paddle.

Finally, blend in the heavy cream.

Traditionally, peanut butter cookies are formed into approximately 3/4 ounce pieces, and pressed with the tines of a fork in a hashtag pattern before baking. In my oven, I bake at 375 for about 11 minutes; but every oven has its own personality, and I recommend whatever time and temperature gives you the results you favor best.