Now I don’t deny my kids love my cooking and baking. If anything, their only complaint is that I hardly repeat old favorites lately. I suppose its my nature, or .... who am I kidding? It’s the OCD, or CDO, in me that thinks that there is always something to be improved on.
Okay, okay, this is a food blog, not a self help class and I am no life coach. Now back to this glorious cookie, which as I have led you to believe is the pinnacle of peanut butter cookies, is adapted from Stella’s recipe in Bravetart. As I bake through the book, I come across not just this, but many a humble cookie pimped and transformed into a more fabulous version of itself. #cookiemakeover? Absolutely! Bring it on ...
Bravetart’s recipe is admittedly amazing, but here I make it my own. I like texture, hence the grinding of the peanuts into just coarse sand, instead of a fine powder. I also just have natural peanut butter at home, and often need to adjust for the amount of butter depending on which part of the PB jar you’re at: more oil on the top will call for reduced amount of butter. Another addition of mine is the baking soda, just a teensy bit to help cookies spread. Because like my Mom, I like them thin and crispy ;)
So the question remains: is this actually better than my home PB cookies? It is an amped up gourmet version for sure. But if I have enough get up and go to get up and go get a tin of salted honey roasted peanuts, then this is the cookie that’ll be on the table today.
Ingredients:
170 g (1-1/4 cups) salted honey roasted peanuts
120 g (1 cup) all purpose flour
285 g (1-1/4 cups) natural peanut butter
115 g (8 tbsp / 1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
260 g (1-1/3 cup) granulated sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
45 ml (3 tbsp) milk
Directions:
1. Preheat the overnight to 180C or 350F.
2. In a food processor, pulse the salted honey roasted peanuts till it resembles a coarse sandy texture. (If you prefer a smooth cookie, feel free to grind till fine)
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and the peanut flour.
170 g (1-1/4 cups) salted honey roasted peanuts
120 g (1 cup) all purpose flour
285 g (1-1/4 cups) natural peanut butter
115 g (8 tbsp / 1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
260 g (1-1/3 cup) granulated sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
45 ml (3 tbsp) milk
Directions:
1. Preheat the overnight to 180C or 350F.
2. In a food processor, pulse the salted honey roasted peanuts till it resembles a coarse sandy texture. (If you prefer a smooth cookie, feel free to grind till fine)
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and the peanut flour.
4. In a bowl of a stand mixer on a low speed, combine the peanut butter, softened butter, sugar, salt, baking powder and vanilla.
5. Continue to beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.
6. Reduce the speed to low and add the egg, mixing until fully incorporated.
7. Fold in the flour mixture, then the milk. The dough will be soft and pliable at this point.
8. On to a parchment lined baking sheet, scoop 2 tbsp portions, placing them about 2 inches apart as they will spread.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 18 minutes, rotating the sheet(s)12 minutes into the baking time.
10. Cool the cookies while on the baking sheet a further 10 minutes before transferring them onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
