Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

It's been a while but I've been busy since my last post in April, was kinda consumed by planning our wedding and trip to the UK with the boys in June ... ya I know, lots of fun stuff right?  Then the summer came and went, back to school rush hit, Thanksgiving and now we are gearing up for Halloween!

I plan to add in some posts and pics from the wedding and our travels but wanted to jump back in with a new favourite in our house .... Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies!  Zac has never really like Peanut Butter and actually used to tell people he was allergic to nuts when he was little, fast forward a few years and he met and fell in love with Peanut Butter Cups and the rest is history! 

I called mom for her Peanut Butter recipe because I didn't want to use the one on the side of the Kraft PB Jar, they are nice and nutty but they are too crumbly and the request came in rather specific .... "Chewy peanut butter cookies please!".  Mom gave me the recipe from her Five Roses cook book and I made a few modifications .... dropped the amount of butter and upped the PB for the extra nuttiness and added in an extra egg for the chewiness.  Below is the recipe that passed the Boy Test in my house ... if they don't eat baked goods then it's bad .... brutal truth!

Ingredients
1/4 cup Butter (*salted or unsalted, just cut out the salt below if you are using salted)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup White Sugar
2 Eggs
1 cup cup Peanut Butter
1/2 tsp Salt *
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 cup Flour
1/2 tsp Vanilla

Using a mixer cream butter, add in sugar and continue to cream until light and fluffy
Add in eggs, peanut butter and vanilla and mix
Add salt* and baking powder and mix
Set aside mixer and mix flour in by hand until incorporated
Roll batter into 1 inch balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheet, sprinkle with white sugar

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are ever so slightly golden brown, pull them out even if you think they aren't done (this will keep the chewiness!!!)  Let them cool on a rack or backing sheet before storing.

These aren't your traditional fork printed PB Cookie but they are chewy and nutty ..... and never last long!  Enjoy.

Aunt Lois' Ginger Snaps

Zac and I decorating gingerbread
houses, Christmas 2009

Christmas isn't Christmas until someone has baked gingerbread!  My Aunt Lois always made great ginger snap cookies and this is the treasured recipe.  My son Zac loves ginger cookies and these are always a request during the holidays.  The nice thing about this recipe is that they can be left in balls to make a thicker softer cookie or flattened out a bit for ginger snaps ... Zac likes the thicker ones but Aunt Lois always liked the snaps for dipping in her tea, you decide what is your favourite!

Ingredients
2  cups of flour**add more flour if the dough is too wet
1/2 tbsp of salt
1/2 tbsp of baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp of ginger
1 1/2 tbsp of cinnamon
1/8 tbsp of ground cloves **if desired
1/2 tbsp of ground nutmeg **if desired
3/4 cups of margarine or butter at room temperature
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of white sugar
1/4 of dark molasses
1 egg

-Combine dry ingredients and set aside
-Cream butter and sugar together
-Blend in the molasses and egg, continue until the mixture is lighter in colour and no longer looks curdled
-Add dry ingredients and mix well
-Section off small portions of dough using a teaspoon keeping them uniform in size
-Roll in granulated sugar and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper approximately 2" apart

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes checking at 10 minutes.
Cool on rack and enjoy!

Aunt Lois' Thimble Cookies

These sugar covered cookies were a favourite of mine when I was a kid especially when they were filled with homemade strawberry jam!  The thimble indentation creates the perfect little pocket for the sweet gooey jam.  Don't worry if you don't sew and find yourself without a thimble (we all know I don't have one lol), you can always use the end of a large wooden spoon to make the indentation.  Be sure to hold the edge of the cookie when you press down to help it maintain it's shape.  My Aunt Lois says this dough is a dry, compact consistency and should make little cracks around the edges when pushed down ... if it doesn't add more of the flour.  Test this out before you chill the dough in the fridge.  Good luck and in case you are wondering.... they are worth it!

Ingredients
1 cup of soft butter (be sure to use butter because these are like a shortbread)
1/2 cup of white sugar
4 egg - yolks only!!!
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups of flourHomemade Strawberry Freezer Jam .... yummo!!!

-Cream butter and sugar
-Add egg yolks and continue to mix, not beat
-Add vanilla and beat until fluffy
-Using a wooden spoon begin to add in flour**(minimum 2 1/2 cups, add in extra flour 1/4 cup at a time, testing dough for dryness after each addition)  You might need some muscle for this so recruit some help :)
-Chill dough in the fridge for 1/2 hour.  The dough should be very compact
-Section off 1" balls and roll in brown sugar placing each on a cookie sheet 1-2" apart.
-Using a lightly floured thimble or the end of a large wooden spoon create indentations in the center of each cookie being sure to hold the edges as you press down.

Bake at 300 for 10 min, remove from the oven and re-poke the indentations as they will puff up a bit with the initial baking
Return cookies to the oven and bake another 20-25 minutes
Cool on rack and fill with a dollop of jam while still hot!

Aunt Jen's Jam Jams

These sandwich style cookies take me back to Aunt Jen and Uncle Harry Wayne's kitchen where my Mom and Aunt Jen would have an assembly line set up that popped out these amazing little round cookies filled with (drumroll please) .... jam!!!!  These are a tedious cookie to make and must be filled while the cookie is still hot so the flavour of the jam can set into the cookie.  The fact that you get two cookies in one grab with this family favourite is yet another bonus.  I'm pretty sure my dad's mouth watered the other day just at the mention of them.  I am recruiting my mom to help me make some this year, enjoy!!!

Ingredients
2 eggs beaten
6 tbsp of corn syrup
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of butter, margarine or shortening
2 tsp of baking powder
3 cups of flour

-Cream together margarine and brown sugar
-Add eggs, corn syrup and vanilla and continue to mix
-Mix in dry ingredients
-Roll out on counter top must be thin) and cut out rounds

Bake at 350 for 5 minutes
Fill with jam as soon as you can handle them once out of the oven.  Let cool and enjoy!!!

Mom's Whipped Shortbread Cookies

Zac baking cookies,
Christmas 2007

These little bits of heaven melt in your mouth!  My mom has made these for many people over the years, delivering them on goody trays far and wide.  They quickly become a favourite ... love at first bite.  My Aunt Sharon used to make them too and this is mom's slight variation of the original recipe.  Don't forget to sprinkle with some festive sugar to dress them up even though they are perfect on their own! 
Be sure to keep them small enough so that you can pop one into your mouth ... they are much easier to steal that way!!!

Ingredients
1 lb of butter at room temperature
1 cup of icing sugar
3 cups of flour
1/2 cup of corn starch
1 tsp vanilla

-Sift flour and corn starch together into a bowl and set aside
-Whip butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy
-Add in sifted dry ingredients and mix on low gradually increasing speed until ingredients are well combined.
-Drop by tablespoon fulls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and sprinkle with coloured sugar

Bake at 300 for 12 minutes or until the slightest brown appears around the bottom edge of each cookie
Cool on rack and eat immediately!!!

Granny's JUMBO Raisin Cookies

These don't just have Jumbo Raisins in the cookies .... the cookies are JUMBO too!  This is my Granny's recipe for a huge cookie filled with surprises.  I must admit I like the idea of these much more as an adult but even the nuts and spices didn't stop me from enjoying them as a little girl as well!  I have always been a huge fan of raisins so it didn't take much to sell me on these favourites.  Be sure to keep the portions generous just like Granny used to make!

Ingredients
2 cups of Golden Seedless Raisins
1 cup of water
2 cups of white sugar
1 lb of shortening
3 eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
4-5 cups of flour**
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon (a generous 1 1/2 tsp!!!)
1/8 tsp of nutmeg (optional)
1 cup of chopped raw walnuts

Prior to assembling the cookie ingredients ....
Combine raisins and water and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.  You will use both the raisins and the water so do not drain!!!!

-Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, Cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and chopped walnuts) and set aside
-Beat sugar, shortening, eggs and vanilla together until light and fluffy (note that the consistency with shortening is slightly different then that of butter or margarine)
-Add cooled raisins and liquid.  Mix by hand until incorporated.
-Mix in 4 cups of the flour by hand, adding up to the 5 cups as needed for a dry cookie dough.
Drop by rounded tablespoon fulls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350 for 10-15, until edges are golden brown.  Cool and rack and enjoy!

Karen's Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

A childhood friend of my mom's used to make these cookies when her daughter and I were just little.  I can remember coming in from the cold Canadian winter following a session of making snow angels and hiding in snow forts to finds a table of peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches (Welch's of course) and a plate of these delicious chewy cookies.  It was at that point that I became a cookie snob ... I only like homemade, chewy cookies and I am totally ok with admitting it!  The added bonus of these cookies you ask???? There isn't any egg so the batter is perfectly okay to snack on, I made these last week for the boys and rediscovered  my love of Karen's Chewy Oatmeal Cookies along the way. 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar
1 cup of butter
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
2 cups of quick cooking oats
1/2 tsp of salt (none if using salted butter)
1 tsp of Vanilla
1 tsp of Baking Soda
1/4 cup of boiling water

Mix sugar and butter with hot boiling water and beat.
Add in remainder of the ingredients and mix by hand.
Spoon onto baking sheet (make them a good size, the bigger they are ... the chewier the cookie!) and press with a fork dipped in milk.

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until edges are starting to dry and are light brown.

Cool ... or eat warm, that's when they are the best :-)