Classic Peanut Cookies Recipe and a Dollop of History
Since my peanut harvest, I’ve had peanuts on the brain, and I felt like being cozy with cookies. I decided to make a warm batch of classic peanut butter cookies. I didn’t overthink it, I went straight to the queen, Martha Stewart, and found a perfect recipe.
It calls for 1½ cups of peanut butter, and that made me think, “How did we get from peanuts to the smooth, creamy American treat we so dearly identify with from childhood?” According to the National Peanut Board, the Inca and Aztecs were the first to grind peanuts into a paste hundreds of years before America adopted it. The modern craze starts with Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (the cornflakes guy), who patented a nut “food compound” in 1895 for chronically ill medical patients!
Kellogg’s colleague, Joseph Lambert, built machines to roast and grind peanuts, launching the industry – prices dropped and a market emerged. World War I meat rationing pushed people toward peanuts, and then, came sliced bread in the 1920s – and the rest is history.
The Inca and Aztecs were the first to grind peanuts into a paste hundreds of years before America adopted the spread.
Classic Peanut Cookies
By Martha Stewart
Ingredients:
(makes about 4 dozen)
- 2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour (I used wheat flour and it worked great.)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups smooth peanut butter
Directions:
- 1. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
- Put butter and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in eggs, then peanut butter.
- 2. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing until just combined after each addition. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- 3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 1 1/2 inches apart. Press cookies with fork tines to flatten and create the classic cross-hatch pattern. Bake until golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.
The classic peanut butter cookie pattern is a must.
The cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days or freezed. If you make these peanut butter treats for Thanksgiving, tag @theglorifiedtomato so I can share your cookie glory!
