Soft & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

The more I progress in getting my favorite recipes on this blog the more I realize there is nothing new - ever really.  

A friend and neighbor shared this recipe with me in 1999 and it has been my favorite and go-to recipe ever since.  My daughter was looking for a good recipe and asked if I'd pull it out for her today.  I wanted to print a new, cleaner page for her.  I have learned that if I do a quick Google search I can find nearly anything.  If I am thinking of it, you can be sure a whole lot of other people have already thought about it before me.  As it turns out, this recipe was the second fourth link that came up on my first query.  It happens to be the exact recipe as the one I've had in my binder for 16 years - go figure.  

This is one of the reasons I added a note to my blog(s) that pretty none of my recipes are original.  Even dishes that I learned from my own mother were handed down to her and so the only thing original about them may be little things we changed either because we wanted to or had to simply because we were missing ingredients and had to do without or substitute.  Sometimes that works out pretty well, sometimes not so much.

I have Cindy Patishnock to thank for these little jewels! And now, so do you.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1 cup creamy peanut butter (we actually prefer crunchy!)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, soda, and salt. Mix well with a wire whisk set aside.
3. In a large bowl, blend sugars, using an electric mixer set at medium speed. 
4. Add butter, and mix to form a grainy paste, scraping the sides of the bowl. 
5. Add eggs, peanut butter and vanilla and mix at medium speed until light and fluffy.
6. Add the flour mixture and mix at low speed until just mixed.
7. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. With a wet fork gently press cookies in a crisscrossed pattern (we omit this part altogether because the fork tends to stick and mess with the shape a little. 
8. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until slightly brown along edges. Do not overbake!