Recipe: Cook's Illustrated Peanut Butter Cookies (using ground peanuts)

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt*
1/2 pound butter (2 sticks), salted**
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup extra-crunchy peanut butter, preferably Jif**
2 large eggs**
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup roasted salted peanuts, ground in food processor to resemble bread crumbs, about 14 pulses (about 1 cup, packed)***

Adjust oven rack to low center position; heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl.

In bowl of electric mixer or by hand, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes with electric mixer, stopping to scrape down bowl as necessary. Beat in peanut butter until fully incorporated, then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Gently stir dry ingredients into peanut butter mixture. Add ground peanuts; stir gently until just incorporated.

Working with 2 tablespoons dough at a time, roll into large balls, placing them 2 inches apart on a parchment-covered cookie sheet. Press each dough ball with back of dinner fork dipped in cold water to make crisscross design.

Bake until cookies are puffed and slightly brown along edges, but not top, 10 to 12 minutes (they will not look fully baked). Cool cookies on cookie sheet until set, about 4 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Cookies will keep, refrigerated in an airtight container, up to 7 days.

*If using unsalted butter, increase salt to 1 teaspoon.

**Bringing the butter, peanut butter, and eggs to room temperature makes it easier to blend the ingredients.

***Be sure to grind the peanuts, since whole, and even chopped peanuts tend to slip out of the dough.

Keep finished cookies refrigerated in airtight container. To restore just-baked chewiness, wrap a cookie in a sheet of paper towel and microwave for approximately 25 seconds. Cool before serving.

Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies
Adapted from source: Cook's Illustrated

Hi Jane,

I hope someone will have the exact recipe for you. The recipe above is basically a doubled version of the 1957 Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe for Peanut Blossoms so maybe you could shape the dough into balls and place a Hershey Kiss in the dough like Blossoms. If the dough seems too soft, chill it for a while before shaping. Here's a tip for Peanut Blossoms from Cook's Country (in reference to the recipe you're looking for): "Instead of adding the chocolate Kiss after baking (as most recipes recommend), place the chocolate on the cookie for the last two minutes of baking. The brief amount of heat effectively stabilizes the exterior of the candy."

Happy Baking!

Betsy