I love this time of the year. There is festive cheer in the air alongwith too much excitement in the house over Little A’s birthday just after Christmas. It is also the season of afternoon baking sessions with him while the evenings are spent cycling at the park. It’s the time of the year when the hearts are filled with love and joy and to spread much happiness in the world.
And I take festivities as a best excuse to get Little A cooking with me in the kitchen. It is so much fun directing him to add one ingredient after the other; a few usual steps he has now learned along the way – butter, sugar, eggs being his favorite baking items; the ones he’ll reach out for before I’d ask him to.
The other day we were craving for a burst of sweet and salty flavors that made us turn our almost empty jar of peanut butter into deliciously crisp and nutty cookies so impossible to stop at one. All the ingredients in this recipe work excellently together to give out a creamy buttery mixture you’d want to eat straight off from the bowl.
This recipe is for the keeps. It is the most basic one that’ll always stay at the back of your mind and will come handy when you are looking for a cookie recipe but don’t want anything too fancy. Butter. Sugar. Eggs. Peanut Butter. Flour. And some excellent company. Does it get anything easier than this? It is highly recommended that you chill the dough before it goes into the oven because no one likes the sight of over-stretched cookies on the baking tray, right?
We are not creative geniuses, although we attempted to spruce up our plain looking cookies by embossing them with shapes of star, bell and flower to make them look like they have been specially made for the white bearded man. It is always amusing to have little ones around in the kitchen for they come out with idea I’d rather not imagine.
I love to use chunky peanut butter as it leaves small pieces of nuts in every bite and I urge you do it too; however creamy one works just fine if that is what you have in your pantry. We dipped in chocolate and covered with sugar sprinklers just to get some festive feel and colors. You can always sprinkle chopped nuts, if sugar isn’t your thing.
These are excellent for a last minute treat. And to always make an extra batch to share with neighbors and friends. Or probably the best to leave out a few for Santa?
If you make this recipe, kindly share your photos and feedback with the #thoughtsoverchai on Instagram and Facebook. I’d love to see your creations!
Peanut Butter Cookies
- Difficulty: Easy
Recipe is adapted from Leite’s Culinaria.
Ingredients:
- Grand Mills All Purpose Flour – 2 1/2 cups
- Baking soda – 1 tsp
- Sea salt – 1 tsp
- Butter – 1/2 cup
- Chunky peanut butter – 3/4 cup
- White granulated sugar – 1/3 cup
- Brown Sugar – 1/3 cup
- Egg – 1, large
- Vanilla essence – 1 tbsp
- Nutmeg – 1/4 tsp, freshly grated
For decoration :
- Dark chocolate – 1 cup
- Sprinklers – 1/3 cup (substitute with anything of your choice)
- Sea salt – 1 tsp
Method :
In a medium bow, mix together butter and sugar(s) until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla essence until the mixture becomes light in color, about a couple of minutes. Add in peanut butter and beat until well combined. In another bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Combine dry ingredients with wet and mix until the mixture comes together and there are no spots of dry flour left. Bring it all together with a spatula and leave it covered with a cling film in the refrigerator for atleast 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 175 Degrees C and line the baking tray with parchment or wax paper. Melt the chocolate and mix in sea salt. Spoon the cookie dough by a spoon and gently roll into a ball; it will now be easy to work with the mixture and wont be sticky as it rested in the fridge. Place them on a baking sheet and carefully emboss any design you like or lightly press with a fork. Keep an inch space between each cookie on the pan. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack. Dip in the melted chocolate and sprinkle the colored sprinklers. They stay fresh in an airtight container for about a week.
Hope your Christmas is a magical one! xx
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Disclosure : I am commissioned by Grand Mills to try their products and share my views. Regardless, I will only recommend those products I personally use and believe in. As always, above story and opinion remain my own.
