classic peanut butter cookies

It's fine to experiment with some foods, reinventing them as gourmet, or fusion. Other foods, however, are better off as old fashioned and dated -- to be appreciated for what they once were. Broccoli chicken casserole, for example, just doesn't require a make-over.

I believe that peanut butter cookies are in the latter category. I don't want to make them taste like a gingersnap or some newfangled cookie -- I just want to let them be the crumbly, tasty morsels I remember. This recipe is from the Joy of Cooking, and the cookies are, thankfully, just like Grandma used to make.

(I have to now admit that I changed the never-to-be-updated recipe just a tad by subbing in some whole wheat flour -- I'll rely on the adage "all's well that ends well.")

classic peanut butter cookies

1/2 C unsalted butter
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 C chunky peanut butter
1/2 teas salt
1/2 teas baking soda
1/2 teas vanilla extract
1/2 C whole wheat flour
3/4 C all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and sugar well. Add egg, peanut butter, salt, soda, and vanilla. Stir well. Slowly add flours and stir until combined. Roughly form into balls in the palm of your hand, then place on parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the top is set and the colour is golden. Let most of them cool while you try one with a glass of cold milk.