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Our kids are involved in JBQ (Junior Bible Quiz) at church and an extremely good friend of mine is the coach. She is an overachiever just like me so it was not a surprise to me personally when this small team, from a small church, beat enough other teams to go to Nationals. This is a big deal for the whole church, but especially the kids and Mary. In order to send them to Rockford, Ill. we are having a bake sale this morning.
I really kind of sweated about what to make. Bake sales are funny things. Believe it or not, all you guys in foodie land, there are people that just aren’t interested in trying raspberry chipotle brownies, or bacon and chocolate chip cookies. I know, right? Bake sale items are the best if they are comfort food, normal stuff that you used to eat when you were a kid, or things that are very similar. So I thought that peanut butter chocolate chip would be different enough to feed my sense of uniqueness and familiar enough to do well. I will have to tell you the verdict on that later. But I can say that, since a cookie broke when I was removing it from the sheet and I was forced to eat it, these are the perfect balance of chocolate and peanut butter flavor.
*It’s later and the bake sale was called off for some reason. But the cookies are…awesome!
The cookies are large, moist and slightly chewy with a crisp outside and a tender inside. Warm, the chocolate chips just melt and flow into the surrounding crumb. Right now the entire house smells fantastic..better than ANY Yankee Candle Co. candle. Give these a try and let me know what you think.
It is really important not to over bake these. They will be soft when you take them out of the over. Allow them to stand for at least 5 minutes to firm up before removing them from the baking sheet to cool completely. By using a tablespoon measure you should get cookies that are about 3-4″ in diameter.
Did you know that the traditional design in peanut butter cookies (the fork ### crosshatching) helps them to develop a crisp outside and a tender middle without being cakey? Now you do. I forgot where I read that…
What are you waiting for? Gosh!
Bake Sale Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 1/2 cup soft unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup Crisco
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt (more if you are using homemade peanut butter)
- 6 oz chocolate chips (I used Safeway/Tom Thumbs brand organic)
- Cream the butter, Crisco, and peanut butter together until smooth.
- Add the brown sugar and white sugar and beat until fluffy and well blended.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition.
- Add the vanilla and blend.
- Sift together the baking soda, flour and salt and stir in to make a soft dough.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Roll tablespoons of the dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet covered with silpat or parchement. Flatten with a fork dipped in flour, first horizontally and then vertically to make squares.
- Bake at 375F for 8 minutes.
- Cool.
Makes about 4 dozen
images:marye audet (c)2009
