Peanut Butter Cookies

I am always on the lookout for "the perfect cookie" of every variety. I've told you that I've tasted the perfect chocolate chip cookie, but I don't have that recipe, so the one on my list is second best. This peanut butter cookie, however, is as far as I can tell...the perfect cookie. I found the recipe on the little wrapper that surrounds the Crisco sticks. Normally I balk at such recipes, much preferring the ones that come from sources I know. But I gave it a shot, and WOW I'm glad I did!

These cookies - at least in my house - sure don't last long. I could pretty much eat the entire batch as it comes out of the oven. Perfect with a big glass of milk. I'm not even kidding when I say these melt in your mouth!!

The Recipe:

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 Tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoons salt

Combine peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add egg. Beat until blended. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix until blended. Drop onto greased baking sheet. Flatten into a criss-crossed pattern with a fork. Bake at 375 for 7-8 minutes.

I use the Crisco sticks for the shortening because I hate measuring shortening in a cup. I use 1% milk in my cooking and it does fine in this recipe. And as always, I use pure vanilla extract, not imitation.

I use my Pampered Chef Measure-All cup for the peanut butter because again - hate the mess of measuring in a regular cup!

When I mix things by hand, I usually melt the shortening first, but since this uses an electric mixer, I just put it in without melting it. This is the peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk, egg, and vanilla. I just throw them all in at once.

It mixes together very easily and is a rough texture after it blends.

I mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl and pour it in a little at a time, trying not to let powder fly all over the kitchen!

Once it starts to get thick, I switch to mixing with a spatula by hand. This is partly because my best mixer broke and I haven't yet replaced it. And the mixer I still have is kind of low-power. I try to help it out when I can. :)

The finished product is pretty thick.

Don't forget to grease the cookie sheet! Most of my cookie recipes don't call for that, but this one does.

To try to help the whole health situation (HA!) I don't dip the fork in sugar before I make the criss-cross pattern.

Mmmmm. Kinda wish I had one right now! Very yummy!