Peanut Butter Cookies

An oldie, but a goodie. Classic peanut butter cookies...in fact, the smell of peanut butter and butter mixed together is one of my favorite smells; if I could jar or put that smell into a candle, I WOULD.

Tips:

Experiment with designs - traditional peanut butter cookies have the fork criss-cross marks across the top, but I have even used a potato masher to give these an interesting look.
To roll or not to roll - You can roll the cookies in sugar and then flatten with a fork (for a crispy cookie) or flatten with fork dipped in sugar (for a chewy cookie).

Oven Temperature: 375 degrees

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Bake Time: 8-10 minutes

 Servings: 2 dozen cookies

1/2 cup granulated sugar 
1/2 cup packed brown sugar 
3/4 cup peanut butter 
1/4 cup shortening 
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened 
1 egg 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
3 Tablespoon milk
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 
3/4 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt 
Additional granulated sugar, for rolling (if desired)


Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 375ºF.  

2) Cream together the sugars, peanut butter, shortening, butter and in large bowl. 

3) Add in egg, vanilla, and milk and stir until thoroughly combined.

4) Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

5) Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls and roll them in granulated sugar.

6) Place about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  

7) Use a fork (or other tool) to make a criss-cross pattern across the cookie and press down until the cookie is about 1/2" thick. 

8) Bake 9 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack.