It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time

Okay, not jelly, just peanut butter.  Well, some chocolate too.  :)

It's time for another cookie post!

To celebrate the end of summer, my hubby and I decided to have a little Labor Day family BBQ.  We had the normal hot dogs, Polish sausage, and hamburgers that you usually have at a BBQ, along with baked beans and potato salad bought by our mothers.  I wanted to make something that I haven't blogged about yet, so I decided on peanut butter cookies and pasta salad.  In this post, you'll find the peanut butter cookie recipe...if you hadn't figured that out yet.  Stay tuned for pasta salad in an upcoming post.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Once again, I used my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook for this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup peanut butter chips
• Granulated sugar
• Melting chocolate or chocolate chips, if desired

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F.  In large bowl, beat brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy, or mix with spoon.  Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Stir in peanut butter chips.
2. Shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls.  Dip tops of balls into granulated sugar.  Place balls, sugared sides up, about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet (do not flatten).
3. Bake cookies 9 to 10 minutes or until light brown.  Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.
4. If desired, in a microwave-safe bowl, heat melting chocolate or chocolate chips at increments of 30 seconds until chocolate is melted.  Dip one end of each cookie into chocolate.  Place on a sheet of wax paper and let stand about 30 minutes or until chocolate is set.

My absolute all-time favorite cookie is a Mrs. Field's peanut butter cookie dipped in chocolate.  It's a rare treat I allow myself to get at the mall.  These rival them.  Honestly, they're so good.  It might be a bad thing that I can make them myself now...