Could you please post the recipe>>?? Sounds good!

Glad to hear you enjoyed them. They're truly a favorite childhood memory. Did you sample the dough? Debatable on whether it's even better than the cookies! Glass of milk or a cup of coffee, or by themselves. They're great cookies.

bigack, I don't see the other thread where they were posted. If I don't find it or get beaten to the punch on posting it (hint, hint...) I'll dig out the recipe and post it this weekend.

Guess I have it in the computer after all. But I don't have the notes I put on some of the postings so it'll be from memory. First, my mother's recipe right off her recipe card:

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 C Brown Sugar
1 C White Sugar
1 C Peanut Butter
1 C Shortening
2 Eggs
3 C Flour (all purpose)
2 tsp (Baking)Soda

Mix like cake. Roll in small balls and press down with fork dipped in flour. Bake in 350° oven until done.

Sometimes, and I think weather had something to do with it, the 3 cups of flour could be a bit much. I'd suggest you start with 2 1/4 - 2 1/2 cups and add more. You should be able to roll it into a log. The dough should be rather firm, but not all dried out, if you know what I mean. But it's pretty forgiving. And yes, it's a large batch of cookies! But they go fast as Liz discovered!

I often added vanilla since I like vanilla and occasionally for a change I would put in some almond extract by itself or with vanilla. But they're great without it too.

My sister likes to mix butter with shortening 50/50 but I like using "butter flavored" shortening. (Yeah, go aheah and say it, but I like it, especially in these cookies!)

I played around with it and came up with a soft version that my old GF was crazy about - Essentially the same recipe using a whipped margarine to soften them up, and it's a smaller batch.

Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

1/3 C + brown sugar (meaning a little more than 1/3 Cup. Rounded off maybe?)
1/3 C + sugar
1/3 C peanut butter
1 t (Baking) Soda
1/3 C SheddÂs Spread Soft
1 egg
1 C + flour (all purpose)
1 t vanilla

Mix together and spoon onto ungreased pans. Bake 350° 10 minutes or until done. Let the cookies sit before removing from the pan. Invert to cool cookies to keep excess moisture from the bottom of cookies.

I tried different margarines and Shedd's Spread Soft was the most consistent, but I imagine any soft margarine could work and possibly even the whipped butter would work (and maybe a better flavor) but I haven't tried it so you're on your own to experiment.

Let me know how they turn out.

Maybe the dogs ate them! Dogs are good scapegoats in these situations :-)

I copied your Peanut Butter Cookie recipe last evening Cynic, and I thought boy they do sound like the ones I used to make so, I got out my cook book for 1954 The Betty Furness Westinghouse Cook Book and sure enough, there it was. The only difference is this recipe called for 1/4 teaspoon of salt. They bake them at 375 for 15 to 18 minutes. I used to make them a lot, but now my husband does not like peanut butter cookies any more, so I haven't made them in a good while. They are a good cookie and I like to make the criss cross with my fork dipped in white sugar. I like them a little less crunchy. A good recipe.

We were married in December of 1953. In about Feb. or March of 1954 we went to a furniture store to buy some end tables and they gave us the cookbook for buying, so it must have just come out since it was a 1954 book. It was my second cookbook. My first was from the preacher and his wife that married us, the Inglenook Cook Book. I still have it also.

Sue

I've found similar recipes in various locations. Mary Beth Roe has a similar one. I know very well my mother didn't invent the recipe. But it was a favorite and the recipe she used. All of her favorite recipes, the one's she'd use, would have an "X" on the top of it in the recipe box to differentiate it. It's interesting to see her handwriting again.

It's hard to describe these. They're really more "crumbly" than what I'd call crunchy IMO. Especially with the criss-cross forking, they break apart and yes, don't overbake them.

I did your original but gonna try your version this week...these were crunchie and I do like a softer cookie...my new cookie pans are the best for making cookies...as long as their brown on the top I know their not burned on the bottom...

YES YES YES...the dough was the best...i'd make a cookie pan...then feast a couple dough balls...LOL...

Thanks again for sharing Cynic!! I was wanting a more peanut buttery taste so may add an extra half cup...I used the good stuff and they still didn't seem all that peanut buttery tasting.. I'm also gonna roll the dough in brown sugar before I flatten them this time!!

Roll in brown sugar, huh? Never thought of that. Sounds good to me. You could always top with some ground up peanuts, honey roasted would be great, but I prefer just the crumbly or soft cookie. Most cookies I like soft, but these are great. And there's a sugar cookie that was similar - crumbly but not hard. I don't like rock hard cookies.

Oh, you realize, if you make a mistake and the ball breaks apart or something while you're flattening it, you can't bake it that way or repair it. You must eat it and take a new ball of dough. It's the rule.