At the Vermont Shortbread Company, we always like to know what's cooking with our friendly neighborhood Vermont bakers... especially when they publish mouthwatering e-newsletters like King Arthur Flour does.
We got permission from editor P.J. Hamel to reprint this tasty essay on peanut butter cookies. Methinks it's been far too long since the last time I ate a homemade peanut butter cookie. Enjoy the article, and when you're done, why not whip up PJ's peanut butter cookie recipe.
P.J. Hamel asks her readers:
Whatever happened to good old-fashioned peanut butter cookies? You know, those tender, peanut-ty cookies that are unbelievably delicious with a glass of cold milk. The ones that, when your mom was making them, she'd let you carefully press the dough down with the tines of a fork.
And you were SO careful to do a good job.
One big factor in their apparent (and lamented) demise is the downfall of peanut butter in general throughout America's child population. Many schools have banned peanut butter, both in the cafeteria and in lunches brought from home, due to its potential danger to children with nut allergies. This is wise practice, but sad, too; used responsibly (odd to think of it in those terms!), peanut butter is a wonderful ingredient.
When we were developing recipes for our new whole grains baking book, due out this fall, the cookie chapter fell to me, and one of the first recipes I tried was a whole-wheat peanut butter cookie. With no allergy sufferers near the King Arthur test kitchen, I was able to spread samples around widely, and they met with wildly positive response. "Hey - I love these cookies! I haven't had one since I was a kid." Seems like a lot of us grew up on p.b. cookies, so I think it's time for them to make a comeback-in responsible fashion, of course!
This week's recipe makes a cookie that's crunchy on the outside, chewy within. King Arthur's new organic 100% white whole wheat flour, a superb whole-grain flour due out this summer, makes a dynamite cookie. In the meantime, feel free to substitute regular whole wheat flour, or even all-purpose flour. And, oh - don't forget the milk!
P.J. Hamel, Editor
The Baker's Catalogue®
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