I made these when my nieces and cousin’s kids were visiting because all kids love peanut butter cookies, right? The recipe is from (surprise, surprise!) Martha Stewart’s Cookies. I love this cookie cookbook so much. Every cookie I’ve made from this book has been delicious and turned out. That being said, the dough for these peanut butter cookies was very sticky. I couldn’t press it down really. Maybe because it was very warm in my kitchen? Anyway, the cookies turned out very light and delicate, unlike a heavier, chewy peanut butter cookie. Very tasty!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Recipes for peanut butter cookies abound, but this one packs a particularly powerful punch. The dough is studded with whole salted peanuts for extra crunch. Sandwich a few with jelly for an afternoon snack. Or embelish them instead by piping melted semisweet chocolate into the lines of the cross-hatch pattern. Makes 2 1/2 dozen.

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for flattening cookies
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup smooth peanut butter (crunchy may also be used)
1/2 cup salted peanuts

Preheat oven to 350. Sift flour and baking soda into a bowl.

Put butter and both sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy; about 3 minutes. Add egg; mix until well combined. Mix in vanilla and then peanut butter. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Turn in peanuts.

Drop batter by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheets lines with parchment paper, spacing 1 1/2 inches apart. Dip the bottom of a galss in flour, tapping off excess and use it to flatten balls slightly. Firmly press fork tines into each dough ball to make a cross-hatch pattern.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until centers are firm and edges are lightly browned, about 25 minutes. transfer cookies on parchment to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.