It's Cookies and Baking Time!

I’ve been reading the books in The Wild Rose Press Christmas Cookies series and now I have such an urge to bake!

With the weather cooling down, it’s that time of year to heat up the house with warm and homey scents of baked cookies.

I thought I might share one of my favorites from my Grandma Kneeland but that one is a little complicated with vague amounts and directions. Yes, we are those annoying pinch and dash type bakers where instructions say very unhelpfully, mix it until it looks right. Err I may need to bake and take pictures step by step before I post that one.

Instead, I’m sharing my mom’s recipe which is my go to peanut butter cookie recipe. I have no idea where this came, only that we made it every Christmas and for my Dad’s birthday.

Full disclaimer, everyone has particular tastes with peanut butter cookies. These are a thick but crispy cookie. I use Peter Pan creamy grocery store peanut butter since that’s what my mom used. Also important to note, many of the family recipes I share use Crisco. Which is not the healthiest but I think it allows other flavors to come out so they aren’t covered up with butter flavor. That’s my justification and I’m sticking to it!

Again, these are so not healthy. Not even a little. They make about 3 dozen depending on how big you make them.

You will need:

2 Baking sheets – you will make these in batches

1 Very large mixing bowl

1 Medium sized mixing bowl

1 Big wooden mixing spoon – or if you don’t want a workout, you can try a stand mixer

Measuring cups

Measuring spoons

Peanut Butter Criss-Crosses

1 C Crisco

1 C Granulated Sugar

1 C Dark Brown Sugar

1 Tsp Vanilla

2 Beaten Eggs

1 C Creamy Peanut Butter

3 C Sifted flour

2 Tsp Baking Soda

Dash of Salt

Preheat oven to 375F

Cream Crisco and sugars in a very large bowl. (we did all this by hand but you can try a mixer – note a mixer adds more air so they may not be as dense)

Add vanilla and eggs and mix thoroughly. Stir in peanut butter.

Sift dry ingredients together. Stir into creamed mixture, a little at a time until dough is stiff. Form into balls. 1 ¼ to 1 ½ inches in size. Place on baking sheets. Use a fork to press criss crosses into the balls until slightly squished. Bake for 10 mins. Move cookies to a cooling rack. Repeat until all the dough is gone.

Cool and enjoy. To me they taste better the next day.

Hope you enjoy this cookie recipe as much as my family does. If you want more cookie recipes and some great holiday stories featuring them. Check out The Wild Rose Press Christmas Cookies Series.

And for the decadent Chocolate Snowball, check out my book Not a Chocolate Snowball’s Chance in Hades – a sizzling and fun story about Hades, Persephone and how a baking contest brought them together.