Happy Peanut Butter Cookie Day…which begs the question: “is it even a peanut butter cookie without the crosshatch pattern”? This actually was the subject of a debate in my office’s lunchroom a couple of years ago. We had a bake sale and when someone, looking at all the varieties of baked goods on the table asked “what kind of cookies are these?” I looked at them like they just fell off the turnip truck and exclaimed: “Clearly, they’re peanut butter cookies!” My declaration was met with skepticism. So, I continued: “Look…they have the ‘international sign’ for peanut butter cookies” while pointing at the crosshatch pattern. Others started to chime in, agreeing with my reasoning. But, then I was asked “oh yeah…why do they have that pattern?” to which I had no answer.
So, here we are today, a few years after the kerfuffle, but a whole four-score-and-a-decade (that’s 90 years!) since the first, unmistakable imprints were instructed to be made, in the Schenectady Gazette (n/k/a The Daily Gazette), upon this type of old-fashioned cookie. I had to get to the bottom of this now and the only reason for doing so, upon research and verification with my own making of the cookies, is that it’s due to the dough's consistency.
Like most cookie recipes, you shape the dough into balls and flatten with a steady, downward, press. However, if you do that with a spatula, the dough will stick to the flat surface. The use of a fork, while still sticking slightly, has less surface area to adhere to, and you can slide off the dough without smearing the appearance of the cookie’s surface. Yet, the dough is still uneven and slightly curved! So a second press-and-slide is needed, et voila, a lovely utilitarian waffle design on the cookie.
Classic Peanut Butter Cookies from The Perfect Cookie, America’s Test Kitchen
2.5 cups AP flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup salted, dry-roasted peanuts
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup extra-crunchy peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, with the racks on the upper and lower third slots, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Place the flour, salt, baking powder and soda in a bowl and whisk to combine. Reserve.
Place the peanuts in a processor and pulse, 15 times, into fine crumbs. Reserve.
In a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and sugars, on medium speed, for a few minutes
Add the peanut butter and process for another 30 seconds. Then, add the vanilla, followed by the eggs, one-at-a-time, and continue mixing until smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add in the flour slowly, followed by the ground peanuts until fully incorporated.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir with a spatula ensuring everything is mixed well. Grab about a tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball with your hands, placing the balls onto the prepared baking sheet, spaced about 2 inches apart.
Once the baking sheets are full, using a fork, press down onto the dough balls forming a crosshatch pattern. Place in the oven and reduce the heat to 300. Bake for about 12 minutes, shifting and rotating the baking sheets half-way through.
Remove from the oven and let set on the baking sheets to cool slightly for about 10 minutes.
Place the cookies on cooling racks and repeat the process with the remaining cookie dough. Note: if the cookie dough feels a bit broken for the second batch, toss-and-squish the dough in your hands, prior to hand rolling, to reactivate the butter and oils.
______________________________ Copyright 2022, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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