Friday, October 13, 2006

Something new, something old

Something new:

Peanut butter filled chocolate cookies



1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup dutch cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 large egg
1/2 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda in a medium bowl.
Beat butter, sugars and peanut butter until well combined. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Beat well. Gently mix in the flour mixture about 1/3 at a time until incorpora
ted. Form the chocolate dough into balls.

Peanut Butter Filling
1/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 Tbs granulated sugar
Combine confectioners' sugar and peanut butter in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth.

Flatten each chocolate ball on the palm of your hand. Top it with a small round spoon of peanut butter. Carefully fold the dough sides over the peanut butter and pinch to seal. Roll into a ball and flatten on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake cookies in preheated 350 degree oven for about 8 minutes, until the surface begins to crack slightly. Allow 2-3 minutes before gently removing them to cool completely on a wire rack.

Something old:

Good ol' Snickerdoodles (Mrs. Sigg's Snickerdoodles)

The poofier cookies on the right were baked on a darker baking sheet. The flatter ones were done on a lighter-colored sheet.

(makes about 30 cookies. )

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar (* I didn't have any on hand, so I just omitted it. Cookies turned out fine.)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
  2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
  3. Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
  4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.