Natural Peanut Butter Cookies

 

I rarely opt for natural or organic ingredients in my baking, assuming that "flour is flour" and "sugar is sugar", not depending on products labeled for promises of better flavor and health. However, I stumbled upon a peanut butter cookie recipe I absolutely love, but only had "hippie" products available in my sister's fridge and pantry to work with: natural peanut butter, free-range eggs, pure cane sugar and the like. I put together this recipe with what I had to work with, and it is now definitely my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe, if not cookie recipe thus far.

 

During the holidays, friends and I used to get together for a cookie exchange evening. Everyone would bring three to four dozen of their favorite cookies to share with everyone else, along with a copy of the recipe. After several glasses of wine and a fantastic cheese and fruit spread, all would leave with a platter of assorted cookies, bars and candies from their friends to enjoy and share over the holidays.

 

If you do not have organic or natural ingredients readily available, consider using what you have at hand. My one recommendation, however, is not to skimp or skip on the vanilla; it adds wonderful flavor. Secondly, pure cane sugar is not quite as sweet as traditional white sugar. To add a little bit more sweetness to the cookies, simply sprinkle them with the cane sugar immediately before baking.

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup organic or natural peanut butter
1/2 cup organic dark brown sugar
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 free range or organic eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Preparation
Beat butter and peanut butter together until soft. Add the sugars, baking soda and powder, and beat until combined. Add the vanilla and egg. Gradually incorporate the flour on low speed, until combined.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place them a few inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. (The parchment paper is a must to stop the cookies from sticking and for ideal clean up.)
Butter the tines of a large fork and use it to press the cookies flat. Make a design of cross-hatch lines with the fork.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Yields: 2 dozen