Peanut Jumbles

Do you like peanuts? Do you like peanut butter? Do you like cookies? Well, then this is the cookie for you. I've always been so-so about regular peanut butter cookies. I like chocolate to counter balance the peanut flavor and the Smitten Kitchen adapted Magnolia peanut butter chocolate chip cookies remain one of my favorite versions of this cookie variation.

However, tonight I was on deadline. Chris and I got home from dinner and errands right around 7. I was torn about whether to bake or not, and finally decided that if I could have the baking and blog done by 8, then I could bake. The time constraints put severe limitations on what I could make -- pretty much leaving me with cookies or bar cookies.

I opted for this recipe out of my Carole Walters Cookie Book because it was quick -- I knew I could have the dough mixed up before the oven was preheated, and I could get the dishes done while the cookies were baking. Plus, as an added bonus, I made huge cookies which meant only two round of cookies in the oven... multi-tasking at it's finest.

These cookies bake up big and soft and poofy (cake flour helps out with that) with lots and lots of crunchy whole peanuts for flavor, texture, and crunch. The recipe calls for whole salted peanuts, but I only had honey roasted... I figured close enough, they they taste pretty darn good in there. Plus I only had crunchy peanut butter -- we don't keep smooth on hand, so I have even more texture in my cookies.

Not bad for baking on a deadline...



Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour, spooned in and leveled
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
3/4 cup creamy (I used crunchy) peanut butter
1 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsps vanilla extract
2 cups whole salted peanuts

Position the shelves in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Heat the oven to 375. Line cookie sheets with baking parchment or silpats.

Strain together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment, mix the butter on medium low speed until smooth. Blend in the peanut butter. Gradually add the dark brown sugar, then the granulated sugar and beat until lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Blend in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the dry ingredients in three additions and mix just until combined. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in the peanuts.

Drop golf-ball sized mounds of dough from the tip of a tablespoon onto the cookie sheets, placing them two inches apart. Bake 10 to 11 minutes, until golden brown, rotating the pans top to bottom and front to back toward the end of the baking time. Let stand for 2 or 3 minutes before loosening with a spatula. Transfer to wire cooling racks.