Peanut Jumbles

Peanut Jumbles - made dough March 21, 2015, recipe modified from Great Cookies by Carole Walter

I haven't been combing through pinterest lately and the plethora of recipes I've already pinned haven't tempted me lately to finally try them. Fortunately, I still have over 200 baking books to turn to and hundreds, if not thousands, of recipes still left to try from them.

One of the downsides of having such a wide variety to choose from *cough* First World problem *cough* is I'm either overwhelmed by all the choices and can't decide so I end up baking nothing or I'm drawn to a recipe I'm almost always sure I've made before but I don't know for sure. After going through a ritual of mental gymnastics every time I peruse my baking books (should I try this one? Did I make this already? Did it turn out? Why don't I have a picture of it?), I finally got smart and started tagging the recipes inside the books themselves.

The book nerd in me can't handle the thought of actual writing in the book itself as it would be akin to spraying graffiti on a signboard or, you know, the Mona Lisa, so I compromised by sticking a post-it note on the recipe's page with the date I made it and cryptic words about what I thought of the finished product like "good", "okay", "nah". It's too bad I didn't think of this system until just recently so I'm still faced with wondering about most of the recipes I don't remember clearly if I'd made it before but at least I can flag new experiments now.

I modified this recipe for peanut butter cookies by substituting peanut butter chips and chocolate chips for the peanuts that it was meant to have. So I guess technically I can't call these "peanut jumbles" the way Carole Walter originally meant them to be. But still, they turned out pretty well. The dough was easy to work with and I was pleased that the cookies stayed thick even during baking.

Form the dough balls, make the cross hatches with the tines of a fork or the pointed side of a meat mallet, sprinkle with granulated sugar then freeze for several hours or overnight before baking. Don't overbake these or they'll be cakey. I recommend baking just until the middle doesn't look raw anymore and the edges show a few cracks. Let them cool to at least lukewarm or they might be too mushy.

2 ½ cups sifted cake flour, spooned in and leveled

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm

¾ cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups whole salted peanuts. optional (I substituted 1 package of peanut butter chips and 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips)

1. Strain together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. 
2. In the large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter on medium-low speed until smooth. Blend in the peanut butter. 
3. Gradually add the dark brown sugar, then the granulated sugar and beat until lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Blend in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low. 
4. Add the dry ingredients in three additions and mix just until combined. Using a large, rubber spatula, fold in the peanuts, if using, or chips. 
5. Form dough into golf ball-size mounds and freeze for several hours or overnight. 
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes, until golden brown, rotating the pans top to bottom and front to back towards the end of the baking time. 
7. Let stand for 2 or 3 minutes before loosening with a thin metal spatula. Transfer to wire cooling racks.