Have you ever wondered why the tops of peanut butter cookies are so often crosshatched?
According to Cook's Illustrated, the addition of the crosshatch pattern that has come to be so characteristic of peanut butter cookies appears to have originated from a recipe published in the July 1, 1932 edition of a New York newspaper, the Schenectady Gazette, which called for the dough to be pressed with a fork, "first one way, then the other, so [the imprints] look like squares on waffles.”
Not wanting to veer away from tradition, I, too, flatten the dough for these hearty whole-wheat cookies in the same way before baking. This recipe yields cookies with chewy centres and a robust nutty flavour – a peanut butter-y pleasure to eat.
Makes 24 cookies
Ingredients
1 cup (125 g) whole-wheat flour ¼ tsp baking powder ¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp table salt ½ cup (100 g) packed brown sugar ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar ¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter, softened ¾ cup (180 g) natural peanut butter 1 large egg 1 tbsp milk Coarse salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and table salt in medium bowl; set aside.
Mix together sugars and butter with wooden spoon in large bowl until fully incorporated. Stir in peanut butter, then egg and milk, until well combined. Add flour mixture; stir to incorporate (dough will be thick).
Drop tablespooonfuls of dough on to prepared baking sheet, about 5 centimetres (2 inches) apart. Using fork dipped in water, flatten each mound of dough to 1-centimetre (½-inch) thickness, pressing twice to create crosshatch pattern. Sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake until cookies are puffed and bottoms are golden brown, 7 to 8 minutes (tops will not look completely baked). Let cool on baking sheet until set, about 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
I do not provide nutrition analyses of the recipes I post for various reasons, but mostly because I would rather not uphold diet culture messaging about choosing foods based on their caloric value or macronutrient composition. Humans survived for millennia without knowing the calorie and nutrient content of the foods they ate. They were fine – really.
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