Peanut Butter Cookies

Last week, Robbie scoured Manhattan for an apartment that we will call home in less than two weeks. In the midst of a very hectic time for him, he did this for us. And I am eternally grateful.

He has dealt with my requirements and gently explained that most of my deal-breakers don’t exist (central air, a built in shoe rack, etc.) and that we should really focus on logistics (is there laundry nearby, does it allow diabetic cats, etc.). His patience is commendable and there is a blessing in disguise that he is doing this without me. He will not have to deal with me over-analyzing every place we see and he is more of a city boy than I am a city girl so knows when a place is good and when it is not. I tend to get distracted by charming details that may be a nuisance in the end, ie, I love that there is a roman column in the middle of the living room – that will add such character to the place!

Nevertheless this is a very exciting next step for us. After celebrating the fact that we will be living in the same city for the first time since 2008, we are now celebrating finding our own place. In this place we will greet each other after long days at work, relax on Sunday afternoons with NFL football (pending lockout), bring our first Christmas tree home (even if it is 12 inches tall), watch our first New York snowfall, complain about our sixteenth New York snow fall, watch hours of Duke basketball, enjoy the Spring thawing the city undergoes and anticipate the heating up of the summer months until we can celebrate our one-year-together-in-an-apartment anniversary.

In this home I will also make meals and meals and meals. And cookies and cookies and cookies. Especially these peanut butter ones which will make me think of Newton and my nephew John. When he was 1 week old I made his parents a batch of these cookies. Ironically, when I asked him recently what type of cookie he would like for me to make he requested “the brown peanut butter ones!” I like to think I’m the one that turned him on to these just like I’ll be the one to turn him on to the wonders of NYC.

Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from the Bon Appetit Cookbook

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Using a mixer, beat the butter, peanut butter and vanilla in a larger bowl until well blended. Beat in both sugars, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Stir in half of the flour mixture and add an egg until incorporated. Add the second egg and blend before adding the remainder of the flour. Roll 1 heaping tablespoonful of dough into uniform balls. Arrange them on baking sheets and use the back of a fork to flatten the balls and form the crosshatch design. Bake until dry on top, about 14 minutes. Cook cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. If the cookies are hard the next day, heat them up for 12 seconds. Makes about 48 cookies.