Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies

This is a yummy upgrade to the old-fashioned peanut butter cookie that I grew up loving. The secret here is to use extra crunchy peanut butter and a cup of ground, salted peanuts. It elevates these to a whole new level, resulting in a super crunchy and delightfully salty-sweet treat. This recipe was originally published in a Cook’s Illustrated magazine back in 1998 and then featured in a NY Times article in 2009. This version is basically the same, with a minor change or two.

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp each, baking soda, baking powder, salt
1 cup roasted, salted peanuts
1/2 lb. butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup extra-crunchy peanut butter
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350º and place the oven rack in low center position. In a medium bowl, sift together the first four ingredients and set aside. Next, pulse the peanuts in a food processor until the texture of bread crumbs. Don’t over-process the peanuts, because you do want some larger pieces for added texture.

In bowl of electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Then, add the sugars and beat until fluffy, scraping the sides when needed. Next, beat in the peanut butter until fully incorporated, then do the same with the eggs and vanilla. Gently stir the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture. Finally, fold in the ground peanuts, just until incorporated.

When ready to bake, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Drop by large teaspoonful onto the parchment. Then, dip a fork in cold water, press the fork into the dough twice, to make the classic crisscrosses that identify a peanut butter cookie.

Bake the cookies until they are puffed and slightly brown along the edges, about 11 to 12 minutes. They will not look completely baked, not to worry, that is normal. Cool cookies on the sheet pan for about 3 minutes, until set. Then, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
This makes about 4 dozen cookies.

NOTES
For an added touch of saltiness, you could sprinkle a smidge of coarse sea salt on top, such as Maldon. You decide and let me know how you like it.

Also, if you don’t want to cook the whole batch, I have a great tip, maybe you already do this. However, I’m sharing this for all of you that have not tried this. Personally, it has been a game-changer for me. This comes in very handy when I’m baking with the little ones and don’t want to have 3-4 dozen cookies in the house.

So, here it is. I make the cookie batter, cook what I want…maybe just one sheet pan full, for a small get together or just enough for me and my helpers. Then, I scoop out the rest of the dough onto a sheet pan. Put as many on the pan as you can fit, then pop them into the freezer.

Then, after about 30 minutes in the freezer, pull them out, remove from the sheet pan and place them in a zippered plastic bag. Make sure to mark the cookie name, cooking time, and the date. That way, you can pull them out, at a moment’s notice and bake however many you want. I do this with all of my cookie batters. Additionally, it is nice to have a selection of two or three to pick from, in the freezer, at any given time.