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Giant Plush Peanut Butter Cookies
I have been in a baking mood as of late. It is summer in Seattle, but the weather is more like March: high 40’s at night and low 60’s during the day. Most of what I bake these days is divided and delivered to friends, and to grandkids. I love to hear the ooos and ahhs and there is never a complaint about my finished products.
For some odd reason, last night I had a hankering for peanut butter cookies. Not with oatmeal, not with chocolate chips, not with crushed peanuts…just plain old peanut butter cookies with a fork cross hatch. They remind me of my mom’s peanut butter cookies, although hers were mini cookies and I have a strong preference for huge monster cookies these days. I start by cutting a large cookie in half then I go back and finish the other half later.
This recipe is adapted from Sallys Baking Addiction blog*. They are easy. The dough is peanut butter-centric with less flour than most, and I mix the ingredients the night before, put the raw dough in an airtight container overnight in the refrigerator and scoop then bake them the following day or even two days later. I only get about a dozen cookies here, but that is perfect for me since I no longer have a huge freezer. This way I get to bake more often, and everything is fresh as can be.
* I have put everything in grams since that is my strong preference for consistent baked goods.
Giant Plush Peanut Butter Cookies
Yield: ~12 giant cookies or ~30 smaller cookies
Ingredients
- 170 grams unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 1 stick salted butter, cut into bits so it softens quickly
- 50 grams granulated sugar
- 100 grams dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 185 grams creamy peanut butter, commercial Jif or Skippy works just fine
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar to roll the cookies before baking
Instructions
Combine the flour, soda and salt in a small bowl and whisk together, set aside.
Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream the butter for a minute, then add the sugars and continue beating for two more minutes. Add the egg and beat another minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add the peanut butter and vanilla and beat until everything is evenly mixed.
Add the flour/soda/salt mixture on low speed. The dough is very soft. Scrape it into a covered container and refrigerate overnight or up to three days.
When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the shelf in the center of the oven. Take two cookie sheets and line them with parchment paper.
Place 1/3 cup granulated sugar into a shallow bowl. Scoop about 60 grams of dough (I use a large ice cream scoop) and then roll the dome part in sugar. Place six cookies evenly on the cookie sheet and gently press down a teeny bit, then use the tines of a fork to make a cross hatch design. Even up the edges of the cookies so they look like a magazine photo.
Note: if you want 30 smaller cookies, scoop a little less than a tablespoon per cookie and bake them less, maybe 10-11 minutes.
FOR THE GIANT COOKIES Bake one sheet at a time for 14-15 minutes so the edges are browned a bit, but the center might look less done. You want it like this, so the cookies are crunchy on the edges and soft in the middle.
Remove the cookie sheet when the cookies are baked enough and let them rest on the cookie sheet for five minutes, then remove them to a cooling rack. You can keep them in a tightly covered container for up to a week or freeze them.
