Rachael Ray

I got a little sick of making chocolate chip cookies (I know, I wasn’t thinking straight when I said this), so I decided I would go off base and make something different to have around the house and I chose to make Peanut Butter Cookies, thinking it might be a little healthier because of the peanut butter (another poor rationalization, but it was late at night when I had this thought).  So I consulted my trusty Joy of Cooking and found this recipe:

About sixty 1 1⁄2-inch cookies
For those who dote on peanut butter cookies, try these rich and crumbly ones. This is another JOY classic.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease or line 2 cookie sheets.

Whisk together:

• 1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda

Beat in a large bowl until well blended:

• 1⁄3 cup (5 1⁄3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 cup packed brown sugar

Beat in:

• 1 large egg
• 1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla

Stir in the flour mixture until blended. Shape into 1-inch balls and arrange about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Press flat with a fork, as shown on 766. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, about 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand briefly, then remove to a rack to cool.

But there was something inherently wrong with this recipe.  Well, two things actually in my opinion.  When I think of peanut butter cookies, I am reminded of the whole salt/sweet combo you get when you have a PB&J sammie or more directly, when you have an Elvis PB& Bacon sammie.  So I felt the recipe, a) needed salt.  I use salted butter anyway, but I also added an extra 1/2 teaspoon for good measure.  Joy may have excluded salt because regular peanut butter has salt added, but I was using Brad’s Organic which is nothing but ground peanuts.

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Secondly, I couldn’t imagine these cookies without chocolate.  Only I had this epiphany once the cookies were already in the oven so there was no turning back in terms of getting chocolate into the batter.  If I had some Hershey’s Kisses around, I may have stuck one in the center, but I didn’t, so I looked around my kitchen and spotted the jar of Nutella, one of the Italians’ greatest gifts to mankind, right up there with olive oil, pasta and prosciutto in my opinion.  I pulled the cookies out of the oven, after about a minute, made a thumbprint in the middle of each to create a catch, and filled it with a dollop of Nutella.  Back in the oven they went to finish baking and voila, a new cookie was created.

Once these cookies cooled (I let them sit out overnight), they were devoured.  They are so rich, you can only have one, maybe two, and you must cut it with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee, but oh, they are soooo good!

Ingredients I used:

((this product has changed my life)

Bakeware I used (hello?):

Why?  Because a portion of the proceeds goes to Rachael’s charity, Yum-o! and because these non-stick baking sheets rock!

Get a few today in our store!