Peanut Butter Cookies

By englandt

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 T molasses
• 1.5 C crunchy peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 to 3 tablespoons water*

Preparation

Step 1

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

2) Beat together the shortening, sugars, egg, vanilla, and peanut butter till smooth.

3) Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the peanut-butter mixture, beating gently till everything is well combined. Add enough water to make a cohesive dough.

4) Drop the cookie dough by tablepoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets (a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here), leaving 2" between them.

5) Use a fork to flatten each cookie to about 1/2" thick, making a cross-hatch design.

6) Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, till they're barely beginning to brown around the edges; the tops won't have browned. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a rack.

For fun, take an unwrapped mini reeses cup and place it on the center of each cookie just after removing from the oven...nice add!