Chewy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies on NPBD!

11%!

That’s the percentage of people who admitted they’ve eaten an entire jar of peanut butter in a single sitting, per a Peter Pan Simply Ground survey of over 1,000 subjects.

12% of those people claimed that they have hidden while eating peanut butter or lied about how much they ate.  

I get it!  I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve eaten peanut butter by the spoonful, and in honor of peanut butter…

Today is National 

Peanut Butter 

Day!

Creamy or chunky ~

with chocolate, with jelly or Miracle Whip ~

peanut butter has been an American staple for generations.

Here’s 

a little nutty trivia 

for you…

    ~ George Washington Carver did not invent peanut butter, contrary to popular belief.   Instead, he promoted more than 300 uses for peanuts, including items like:  pancake flour, laxatives, diesel fuel, colored paper, shampoo, shaving cream, paints, antiseptic soaps, printer’s ink, linoleum, laundry soap, goiter treatments, dyes, face bleach, various cosmetic products such as face powders and creams. 

    ~ John Harvey Kellogg, M.D., of cereal fame, is credited with patenting a process for turning raw peanuts into a butter-like spread in 1895.

    ~ The average peanut farm is 100 acres, one acre of peanuts will make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches.   

    ~ It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.

    ~ Two former United  States Presidents, Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter, were peanut farmers and have contributed to the production of peanut butter in the U.S.

    ~ Eating just a tablespoon of peanut butter is known to help lower high blood sugar in diabetics.

      ~ Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth.

    ~ The Jif plant in Lexington, Kentucky is reportedly the largest peanut butter factory in the world.

   

Moving on to this great recipe...

Soft, chewy cookies packed with luscious peanut butter flavor is truly the way I really like peanut butter. 

This recipe combines two cookie jar favorites:  peanut butter and oats.  These cookies combine the softness of peanut butter cookies and the chewiness of oatmeal cookies, unlike traditional crunchy peanut butter cookies.

Bake these cookies for about only 9 minutes, until a very light golden brown; over-baking will result in a crunchy cookie.

A peanut butter cookie doesn’t get any better than this.  I doubled the recipe and shared.

They are about the best peanut butter cookie you’ll ever bake! 

These peanut butter cookies are chewy, peanutty delicious!

Enjoy your peanut butter on this 

National Peanut Butter Day!

Chewy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

½ cup shortening
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
¾ cup white sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cooking oats

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°.
In a large bowl, cream together shortening, butter, brown sugar, white sugar, peanut butter and vanilla until smooth.
Beat in the eggs one at a time until well blended.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture.
Mix in the oats until just combined.  
Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 9 to 12 minutes, until just light brown.
Don’t over-bake.
Cool and store in an airtight container.
Makes 48 cookies
Printable recipe


Enjoy!

Crunchy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Bill and I have enjoyed 

the bounty from several 

neighbors' gardens this summer, 

and my way of saying thanks 

is to bake sweet treats for them ~

they all have a sweet tooth…

I recently made a double batch of these great crunchy peanut butter cookies.  If you like peanut butter, you will love these cookies.

The recipe is adapted from my old Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.   I added a little salt and semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus demerara sugar for sprinkling on top before baking. 

Demerara sugar adds a sweet crunch to the cookie, substitute granulated sugar for rolling, if you prefer. 

There’s always room for a cookie or two!

Crunchy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
Printable recipe

½ cup butter, softened
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
1¼ cups flour
12-ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
Demerara sugar for rolling

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°.
In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds.
Add granulated and brown sugars, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.  
Beat in egg and vanilla until combined.
Beat in as much flour with the mixer as you can, stir in remaining flour and chocolate chips.
Shape dough into 1” balls.
Roll in demerara sugar to coat.
Place balls 2” apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Flatten by making crisscross marks with the tines of a fork.
Bake for 9-11 minutes, or till bottoms are lightly browned.
Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies


Enjoy!

  


 And...

Rich and Creamy Buckeye Candy ~ OHIO!

After we moved to Louisville, when I was a teenager, Dad gave me several Buckeye nuts for good luck ~ I still have them to this day, with one being in my purse all the time.  They always remind me of him…

  

I’m a Buckeye at heart ~ was born in Ohio, lived there through my early years; my extended family still lives there.  It’s almost a shame ~ I’ve never made Buckeye Candy until now. 

There are about a zillion recipes over the Internet for this delicious confection; this one belongs to Jif.  It’s not a candy that is made often in this neck of the woods, so that makes it even more of a treat with it’s taste similar to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

The buckeyes are dipped in chocolate in a manner to duplicate the nut from the Buckeye tree, the state tree of Ohio.  They have a smooth peanut butter filling that is coated with rich semi-sweet chocolate.  It’s an easy recipe, which you will probably want to double like I do. 

Maybe these sweet little candies will bring a person good luck, just like the real Buckeyes do!

Buckeyes

Adapted

Ingredients:

1½ cups creamy peanut butter (I use Jif)

½ cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon salt

3-4 cups powdered sugar (I used almost 3½)

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons shortening

Method:

Combine peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in large bowl.

Beat with an electric mixer on LOW until blended.

Add 2 cups powdered sugar, beating until blended.

Beat in additional powdered sugar until mixture, when shaped into a ball, will stay on a toothpick.

Shape into 1-inch balls.

Refrigerate 1 hour.

Place chocolate chips and shortening in microwave-safe bowl.

Microwave on medium for 30 seconds, stir.

Repeat until mixture is smooth.

Reheat as needed while coating peanut butter balls.

Insert toothpick in peanut butter ball.

Dip ¾ of ball into chocolate, leaving top uncovered to resemble a buckeye; remove excess.

Place on wax paper-lined try.

Remove toothpick and smooth over holes.

Refrigerate until firm.

Makes about 4-5 dozen

Pam’s note:  The chocolate adheres well when the peanut butter balls are VERY COLD and the chocolate is VERY HOT.  Dip them immediately; don’t let them sweat, as the chocolate won’t stick.  They’re easy to make, and sooo good!

ENJOY!