Peanut Butter Cookies - Bake-Off XIII

[pastrygirl]

I'm not crazy about PB, but my latest PB cookie version has fried peanuts coated in a thin layer of caramel and sprinkled with salt and chili powder mixed into the dough. Spicy peanut cookies!

[prasantrin]

I'm not crazy about PB, but my latest PB cookie version has fried peanuts coated in a thin layer of caramel and sprinkled with salt and chili powder mixed into the dough.  Spicy peanut cookies!

←

Ahem...

Now that's a recipe I'd love to try! hint hint

Ling's peanut butter cookies get raves from my friends. I'm not a huge pb fan, but I thought they were good. I'd like to try the Dorie Greenspan one, but that would mean buying peanut butter. I'm trying to cut down on pantry items that won't get used up within a year or two. If pastrygirl posts her recipe, though, I'd be at Costco in a minute!

[jumanggy]

Lisa: No, peanuts don't have natural sugars It should be noted, though, that the most popular local brand of peanut butter here in the Philippines (Lily's-- ring a bell, Rona? ) is natural and is also loaded with sugar. It's a taste thing. And perfect for eating straight out of the jar. Er, when I was a kid.

Klary: Merstar's comment should settle it then-- you can go for the cookies either way. I hope the taste of Dutch PB works out fine in cookies

[Lisa2k]

I always use natural peanut butter for cookies with no problems. I can't stand the sickly sweet and overly salty taste of the partially hydrogenated stuff, such as Jif, Skippy, etc. Luckily, I found an excellent, very peanutty tasting natural peanut butter after going through many that were fairly bland.

←

Gosh, I'm so used to those peanut butter brands, that natural, or my own homemade peanut butter seems to pale in comparison. That's one part of my palate that never changed when I got older. Thanks, Mom. LOL

On another note..does anyone remember Google or Googie flavored peanut butters? It was a brief mid 70's product, and came in chocolate, banana and vanilla. I used to sit on our front lawn with a jar of the vanilla and eat it with a spoon. I was in love with the stuff. I must have been about 3 or 4, and made such a mess with it (just had to share it with some of the bugs..lol).

Having said all that, can I find Ling's peanut butter cookie recipe in the RecipeGullet, or can someone post a link to it?

[Lisa2k]

I'm not crazy about PB, but my latest PB cookie version has fried peanuts coated in a thin layer of caramel and sprinkled with salt and chili powder mixed into the dough.  Spicy peanut cookies!

←

OMG, that sounds amazing..what a great idea! I sometimes add chili flakes to my peanut butter cookies, and chopped, dried ancho chiles (rehydrated a bit) to my oatmeal raisin cookies (yes, different topic), but I never thought of adding sweet and spicy peanuts to a peanut butter cookie! I'm definitely going to try that! Thank you!

Edited April 22, 2008 by Lisa2k (log)

[pastrygirl]

Aw, shucks, guys. I might have to try the spicy oatmeal raisin, but then we already have spicy brownies, don't want to go overboard on the spicy pastry! Here's the recipe for the nuts, the cookie dough recipe we use came from Gourmet or Bon Appetit but has been modified for high altitude, so I won't post that part (too lazy to figure out recipegullet right now, and too lazy to convert back to sea level and/or ounces):

Spicy Peanuts for PB Cookies

peanuts 200 g

salt 1 tsp

chilli powder 1 tsp

sugar 2 TB

Fry the peanuts in hot oil (180C/360F) until the nuts are lightly browned, then drain

them on paper towels.

Put the salt, chilli, and sugar in a bowl, add the hot peanuts, and toss to coat.

Heat a small frying pan over medium high heat. Add the peanuts and spices and

cook, stirring, just until the sugar melts. Immediately pour the nuts back into

the bowl and let cool.

******

I'm sure you could just toast the peanuts (maybe with a light coating of oil?) instead of deep frying them, but the peanuts we get here are not great and seem to magically improve in the fryer. For non-metric users, 200 g is 7 ounces or about a cup and a quarter of peanuts.

Enjoy!

[emmalish]

I made Dorie Greenspan's Peanut Butter Crisscrosses this weekend (mentioned upthread).

Edited April 23, 2008 by emmalish (log)

[Bruiser]

Has anyone else made Pichet Ong's Peanut Butter Cookies from his cookbook?

They are unreal.

He uses brown butter in them, and sprinkles sea salt on top and it makes such a difference.

I'm making some tonight, so I will post a picture tomorrow.

Edited April 26, 2008 by Bruiser (log)

[gfron1]

Bruiser nudged me enough to make Ong's PB cookies last night as well. I ate one yesterday fresh from the oven, and one this morning for breakfast. They were really good, but I preferred fresh from the oven 10 times more than the day after. Also, I used Maldon instead of Fleur de Sel, which Ong said was an acceptable substitution. I'd like to try them with the Balinese salt pyramids some time for extra textural punch.

This is the second browned butter recipe I've made lately (Paul Raphael's ccc in RecipeGullet), and I like that addition, but I have to eat more than one cookie to appreciate it. The first cookie is my scarf cookie which doesn't get tasted, and the second one gets enjoyed.

PS - no pics...they looked like cookies, except really big!

[Lisa2k]

Bruiser nudged me enough to make Ong's PB cookies last night as well.  I ate one yesterday fresh from the oven, and one this morning for breakfast.  They were really good, but I preferred fresh from the oven 10 times more than the day after.   Also, I used Maldon instead of Fleur de Sel, which Ong said was an acceptable substitution.  I'd like to try them with the Balinese salt pyramids some time for extra textural punch.

This is the second browned butter recipe I've made lately (Paul Raphael's ccc in RecipeGullet), and I like that addition, but I have to eat more than one cookie to appreciate it.  The first cookie is my scarf cookie which doesn't get tasted, and the second one gets enjoyed.

PS - no pics...they looked like cookies, except really big!

←

PS - no pics...they looked like cookies, except really big!

LOL!! I just spewed diet coke all over my screen. Funny!!

That said, Has anyone tried the actual Bouchon Bakery Nutter Butter cookie recipe? Like I said above, I always use their filling to sandwich some of my peanut butter cookies, but the recipe for their cookie contains 1 lb of butter compared to the rest of the 'basic amount' of ingredients, which is 'obviously' a lot! Now, don't get me wrong, I love butter, and I don't skimp, but I was just curious if these cookies were worth 1 whole lb of butter, and how they came out (??).

Edited April 28, 2008 by Lisa2k (log)

[bburdulis]

What is the recipe for the filling in Bouchon Bakery's Nutter Butters?

[Lisa2k]

What is the recipe for the filling in Bouchon Bakery's Nutter Butters?

←

Here's the whole recipe in case someone wants to try the cookie part along with the filling.

Ingredients:

***Cookie Dough***

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

4 teaspoons baking soda

1 pound butter -- at room temperature

2/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup coarsely chopped peanuts

2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

***Filling***

4 ounces butter -- at room temperature

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 2/3 cup confectioners sugar

Directions:

For the cookie dough: Oven to 350. Mix together flour, baking powder and baking soda; set aside. Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and peanut butter. Add sugars and beat at medium speed for 4 minutes, scraping bowl twice.

At low speed, add eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture and beat on low until well mixed, frequently scraping bowl. Add peanuts and oats. Using an ice cream scoop, place balls of dough on parchment-lined baking sheets at least three inches apart. Bake until cookies have spread and turned very light golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely before filling.

For the filling: Cream the butter, peanut butter and confectioners sugar until very smooth.

[Pille]

Peanut butter is something you must grow up with in order to appreciate it fully. It wasn't available behind the Iron Curtain and it's definitely not something I would by regularly. Hmmm. I think the only time ever I did buy a jar of peanut butter was few years ago to make these peanut butter cookies (a cup of sugar, a cup of good-quality crunchy peanut butter, 1 egg - that's it). They were quite tasty, to be honest, but I still haven't joined a Peanut Butter (Cookie) Appreciation Society (if there exists one).

[helenjp]

A Japanese recipe for peanut butter cookies included a generous amount of lemon zest. If you're a peanut butter cookie fence-sitter, it makes all the difference!

[Mary Elizabeth]

Lisa2k,

I made the Boucheron nutter butter cookies, with their cream filling. The cookies spread and flatten to about 3-4 inches wide, 1/4 inch thick. When cool they are very rubbery, and stay that way for 3-4 days. They fall apart when you bite into them, so they don't squish the cream, which is very soft, out the sides. They would make good ice cream sandwich cookies.

[Mary Elizabeth]

I looked at 6 classic peanut butter cookie recipes: Betty Crocker Cooky Book, San Francisco Baking Institute, Village Baker's Wife, Joy of Cooking, and 2 from the internet that were mentioned up thread. These 6 recipes broke down into 2 ur-recipes, which I express in baker's percentages:

#1, #2

flour: 100, 100

sugar: 110, 150

butter: 60, 80

peanut butter: 70/80, 100/150/200

egg: 28, 35

Group 2 is higher sugar, higher fat, with more egg for body, and should be chewier.

I baked the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookie, which is in group 2, and have pictures, but I can't figure out how to get pictures here.

I can't figure out how to get the numbers to stay in columes, so I hope can see the 2 groups.

Edited May 27, 2008 by Mary Elizabeth (log)

[Mary Elizabeth]

Here are the peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies, recipe 48532 at Recipezaar, mentioned upthread:

[Lisa2k]

Lisa2k,

I made the Boucheron nutter butter cookies, with their cream filling.  The cookies spread and flatten to about 3-4 inches wide, 1/4 inch thick.  When cool they are very rubbery, and stay that way for 3-4 days.  They fall apart when you bite into them, so they don't squish the cream, which is very soft, out the sides.  They would make good ice cream sandwich cookies.

←

So, as a regular cookie, 'eh', but would better if frozen with ice cream? Have you tried Cook's Illustrated Super-Nutty Peanut Butter cookies with the Bouchon filling? I thought they turned out quite well, although they were a little on the soft side, and for me, if I'm going to fill a peanut butter cookie, I prefer a little 'crunch' along with the chewy.

[Pucca]

The last batch of PB cookies that I made were from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook. I'm not a big fan of their cupcakes, but after I saw these cookies posted on a food blog, I had to try them for myself. They were delicious and melted in my mouth. The recipe calls for chunky pb, pb chips, and choc chips. As a kid, I never really cared for chunky pb, but I love the added texture that it adds to the cookie.

[ElsieD]

I have a friend who has just had surgery for a serious health issue. I want to make him a batch of his favourite cookies. I used to make peanut butter years ago but stopped when I found all the recipes I tried to be cloying sweet. Would anyone have a recipe they would be willing to share that showcases the peanut butter rather than the sugar? It would make my friend very happy and he could use a bit of happiness right now. Thank you!

[cakewalk]

They do tend to be very sweet. I use Dorie Greenspan's recipe, but I reduce the sugar. I have the amounts written in my cookbook, I'll post them later this evening when I get home.

[Shel_B]

I have a friend who has just had surgery for a serious health issue. I want to make him a batch of his favourite cookies. I used to make peanut butter years ago but stopped when I found all the recipes I tried to be cloying sweet. Would anyone have a recipe they would be willing to share that showcases the peanut butter rather than the sugar? It would make my friend very happy and he could use a bit of happiness right now. Thank you!

[KennethT]

I wonder if adding more salt would offset the sweetness? I assume you're starting with an unsweetened peanut butter?

[ElsieD]

Cakewalk, looking forward to the recipe. Shel_B, I would appreciate that. And KennethT, I always used regular peanut butter like Jiffy or Skippy which is of course, already sweetened. Maybe that was part of the problem?

[Shel_B]

I have a friend who has just had surgery for a serious health issue. I want to make him a batch of his favourite cookies. I used to make peanut butter years ago but stopped when I found all the recipes I tried to be cloying sweet. Would anyone have a recipe they would be willing to share that showcases the peanut butter rather than the sugar? It would make my friend very happy and he could use a bit of happiness right now. Thank you!