Sunday Bread - Peanut Butter Cookies for Occupy DC

by: Something The Dog Said

Sun Oct 30, 2011 at 07:04:25 AM PDT

Happy Sunday, Bread Heads!

This week and probably for the next few weeks we are going to be doing recipes that I am baking for the Occupy DC folks.

Last week I asked if anyone would like to donate some money for ingredients and transport of baked goods to the protestors. Little did I know that we'd get such a big response! As of today there has been $425 donated!

I originally thought that I would just bake French bread, because it is just flour, water, yeast and salt, and could deliver a few hundred loaves. But when I brought the first 40 (two 8 hour days of baking will net you 40 lovely French bread loaves) the ODC folks told me they had a lot of bread already (they did).

They asked if I might bake something else for them, suggesting cookies. So, thinking about a cookie with a good sugar hit and some kind of nutrition led me to Peanut Butter Cookies, which is this week's recipe.

I am going to continue to bake what the protesters ask for, figuring that they know what they want and it really is all about them not what I think is the better food. If you would like to donate to this effort, you can message me and I'll give you the account to use for Paypal. I'll also be providing updates on the deliveries either here or my nightly Water Cooler post.

Now, on to the cookies! As with everything that is baked I have particular and strong opinions about cookies. They should not be really small nor large. They should always be al dente, a mushy cookie is under cooked and crispy cookies tend to be too dry. They should also be able to last (in terms of being edible, not necessarily in terms of being around uneaten) for at least a week in a reasonably air tight box or tin.

This Peanut Butter cookie recipe is one that fits the bill all the way around. The cookies come out delectably chew with a great peanut butter flavor. Best of all the recipe makes between 60-70 two to three bite cookies!

Now that your mouth is watering, let's bake!  

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar (dark preferred)
2 eggs
1 cup peanut butter ( I prefer the chunky, but it you want a more uniform texture use smooth)
3 cups all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder (I normally tell my readers above 5,000 feet to cut this down, but don't do it for this recipe!)

Baking Pans - 2 sheet pans, lined with parchment paper

Method:

Set a rack in the middle of the your oven and preheat it to 350 degrees.

In your large mixing bowl or the work bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter, vanilla and both sugars until they are light and fluffy, about 2 minutes at high speed with a hand or stand mixer.

In a small bowl beat the two eggs until the whites and yolks are well combined. Add to the butter sugar mixture and beat until combined.

Add the peanut butter and beat until it is completely incorporated in the developing dough.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, salt and baking powder. With the mixer or beaters running, add this in two additions, allowing the dough to absorb the first before adding the second.

You will have a fairly dry dough. It will be malleable like modeling clay. Time to get you hands a little dirty!

To form the cookies pinch off about a tablespoon of dough and roll it between your palms into a small ball. Place the balls on your baking sheet, about 1 ½" apart (they to flow a little bit but not that much). I can get 20 of these cookies on each sheet pan.

When you have filled up your sheet pan, take a fork, and using the back of the fork gently press crisscross lines into the dough balls. This will flatten your cookies as well.

Only bake one pan of these at a time. I have tried and tried and tried to be able to get two sheet pans to come out the same in a bunch of different ovens over the years and I am always disappointed. Just take you time and get perfect cookies, trust me it is worth the extra wait.

Slip your sheet pan into the hot oven and bake for 9-11 minutes. You'll have to gage this yourself as ovens vary too much, but you are looking for the cookies to be well puffed and firm but not darkened around the edges.

Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to sit on the sheet pan for 2 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool. They can be a little fragile when they first come out of the oven.

By now your kitchen will be filled with the smell of sugar and peanut butter! These cookies are great warm or cool, but do try not to eat the whole batch in one day, that is a sure route to a stomach ache!

Oh, case you are wondering what 210 peanut butter cookies look like, here is one more picture. I'll be leaving shortly to take them down to the Occupy DC folks.

The flour is yours!