Peanut Butter Cookies

So my New Years Resolution to start blogging on a more regular basis now that I’m done with grad school has failed miserably so far.

After giving 110% for a year and a half, then Christmas, then Disney, then sub zero temperatures and blizzards…well, I’ve been resting!  I’m reading and playing computer games and *gasp* going to bed at a decent time!  But now I’m ready – I’m really going to give it a whirl and get back on blogging track!

Today’s recipe is brought to you by Spud, who has taken a sudden interest in cooking!  So far he’s made waffles, sugar cookies, and cinnamon rolls and has been checking cookbooks out from the school library.

He made the cinnamon rolls from a kids baking book, then decided that he really wanted a book that was all about desserts.  We happened to be at the public library and found a kids cookbook dedicated to cookies and he had a recipe picked out before we got home!

Behold the epic mid-90’s awesomeness!

He wanted to make peanut butter cookies, especially since peanut butter cookies (and waffles) play a prominent role in the latest book in one of his favorite book series: Peanut Butter & Jelly: A Narwhal & Jelly Book.

Have you guys ever read a Narwhal & Jelly book?  Probably not, they’re graphic novels (think comic book style but the a more definitive beginning-middle-end like a novel) aimed toward earlier readers and they are hilarious – I love them!

Anyway, in this book, Narwhal discovers peanut butter (in the form of cookies) and switches to an all peanut butter diet!  Spud loves the story and when he saw the recipe for peanut butter cookies, he grabbed his stuffed Narwhal and got to work!

He needed very little help from me and just loved the cookies he made!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Adapted from Cookies and Candies p. 34

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened

½ cup peanut butter

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 cup all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

Place the butter and peanut butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix together until smooth.  Add the sugar and beat until creamy.

Add the egg, mixing completely.  Stir in the vanilla, baking powder, salt, and flour.  Mix well.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.  Roll the dough to ¼-inch thickness and use cookie cutter of choice to cut out shapes.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until beginning to brown.