These are by far the best peanut butter cookies I have ever made, and I make a lot of cookies. I always get rave reviews when I serve them. They are really over the top. 2.5 cups all purpose flour 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 lb. (2 sticks) salted butter (I use Cabot only) 1 cup brown sugar, packed 1 cup granulated sugar (I use Florida Crystals Natural Sugar) 1 cup crunchy peanut butter (Jif), at room temp 2 large eggs 2 tsps. vanilla extract (suprisingly, CVS imitation vanilla is excellent) 1 cup roasted salted peanuts Preheat oven to 350. Grind peanuts in food processor until they resemble bread crumbs, about 14 pulses; set aside. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl; set aside. Beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down bowl as necessary. Beat in peanut butter until fully incorporated and then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Gently stir dry ingredients into peanut butter mixture. Add ground peanuts; stir gently until just incorporated. Scoop into balls (I use cookie scoop) with about 1.5 Tbsps. dough per scoop and drop onto parchment about 2 inches apart. Press criss-cross design into the top of each ball using a fork dipped in cold water. Bake 10-12 mins until cookies are puffed and slightly brown along edges but not on top. Cookies will not look fully baked! Cool on sheet until set, about 5 minutes; transfer to wire rack to cool completely. The ground peanuts add a lot of flavor and surprisingly, do not add grittiness. I don't like peanuts in cookies as a rule, and I don't like crunchy peanut butter, but I love these cookies. When my mom makes them, she likes to make a glaze of powdered sugar with a little milk and a small amount of creamy peanut butter and drizzle it over the finished cooled cookies. If you make them, let me know how you like them.

What kind of peanut butter? I often buy peanuts at a reduced price after the holidays and make my own peanut butter in the food processor. I also use powdered peanut butter and reconstitute it with water and add a little coconut oil to smooth out the texture. (Powdered peanut butter is a home food storage staple.) When Dillons (our Kroger associated grocery store) sends me a coupon for a free jar of Kroger peanut butter, I'll use that. The price of an 18-oz. jar of it has more than doubled over the last few years, so it MUST be good...... If I'm feeling wild and crazy I'll make sunflower seed butter and use that for something different. I'm not one of those "picky" people who choose Jif - because it normally doesn't fit my food budget. We regularly use 18-oz. of peanut butter per month without using it for cookies. This is our newest favorite peanut butter cookie recipe.... PEANUT BUTTER CRUNCH COOKIES Heat or microwave to liquefy: 1 stick of butter 3/4 c. peanut butter Add remaining ingredients: 1 t. baking soda pinch of salt 2 eggs 1 c. unsalted dry roasted peanuts 1/2 c. raw or roasted sunflower seeds 1/2 c. almond flour (or wheat flour) 1/2 c. palm sugar (or brown sugar) 1/2 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips 1/2 c. cacao nibs (optional) Use an electric mixer to blend. Use a #50 portion scoop to portion cookies and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Press dough down slightly. Bake in a preheated 375-degree F. oven for 12-minutes. -Grainlady

If you want something a little different, you might like this recipe. I use to make this peanut butter and chocolate cookie tart all the time to take to the school bake sales when my son was young. The teachers would buy up the trays before they ever made it too the bake sale table. I'm not a peanut butter fan, so I've adapted the recipe over the years to make a shortbread cup for the chocolate filling. This is what the cookie looks like as the shortbread version. The peanut butter version looks the same except the cookie dough is a more golden brown. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Peanut butter and chocolate cookie Tarts ======================================== Dough 3/4 cup butter 3/4 cup peanut butter smooth 3/4 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup white sugar 1 egg 1 egg yolk 2 tsp vanilla 2 1/4 cups flour 3/4 teaspoon baking soda Chocolate filling 4 oz semisweet chocolate 1 Tablespoon Milk 2 Tablespoons cocoa 1/3 cup butter 2 cups sifted Icing Sugar . Cream butter with peanut butter until very smooth. Beat in sugars. Beat in egg and yolk. Add vanilla. Sift flour with baking soda and mix well. Stir into butter mixture. Press balls of dough into well buttered mini muffin tins. Each ball of dough should be about 3/4's the size of the muffin tin - when you intent the centre it should form the shape of a pudgy little tart shell. Bake in preheated 350ðF oven for 15 minutes or until outside is baked but inside is still chewy. Do not over bake. Cool five minutes on rack and then remove from tins. Cool completely. Filling Combine chocolate, cocoa, milk and butter in small saucepan. Melt over low heat. Mix until smooth. Cool. Beat in icing sugar to give consistency of icing. Pipe about 1 tablespoon of filling into each tart. Note: YOu can spoon the filling in to the centre, but it looks nicer when piped.

Forgot to mention that the original recipe indicated: Drop by teaspoonfuls and bake for 15-17 minutes. I make a lot of cookies and I know that this is way too long for this size cookie. I dropped mine by tablespoonfuls and baked them for exactly 12 minutes. They are crunchy but not hard! At first I thought they were a little dry but I think it's the bran in it. When they're cooled, they're very good. I've been eating some for breakfast with my coffee... I figure..heck.. they got rolled oats and bran! can't be that bad for breakfast.. LOL Our dog really loves them! She just hears you in the cookie jar and gets really excited! At first I hesitated to make this recipe but decided to give it a try because of the oats and bran. Glad I did because I will make this often... healthier than your usual cookie. Because I love to bake, I try to use brown sugar and/or honey instead of white sugar... the oats and bran is a bonus here! Found this recipe in my drawer.. had put it there 15+ years ago and never bothered to try it.