Peanut Butter Criss Crosses

I am a big fan of bakes from Piggy's Cooking Journal. Grace participates in Tuesdays with Dorie events regularly, where bloggers test and attempt recipes from her recipe books every week. Sometime back in September, Grace posted her version of Peanut Butter Criss Crosses and that got me intrigued immediately. Not to mention, hubby loves anything cookies...and I haven't been making any for months!

I didn't change anything except not chopping the peanuts (lazy + I like the crunch). The sugar coating gave it this extra texture-not to mention it looks so pretty. It has a melt in your mouth texture, and perfect with a cup of hot chocolate or coffee for morning or afternoon tea. A batch of these made around 70 cookies for me though and needless to say, it lasted for my office morning tea, a week of hubby's snacks and I even brought it to a friend's place! Woah, it went a long way.

I didn't press my cookies as flat as Grace- and perhaps it will be more crispy if I do. But nevertheless, it's an additive cookie with the crunch that Hubby and I love.

Peanut Butter Criss Crosses



Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• Pinch of grated nutmeg (I used grounded cinnamon)
• 1 cup / 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth, I used crunch)
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ½ cups chopped salted peanuts (I didn't chop them, it so much better when it's crunchy!)
• About ½ cup sugar, for rolling

Preparation:
Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for a minute or two, until smooth and creamy. Add the peanut butter and beat for another minute. Add the sugars and beat for 3 minutes more. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl and, on low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they just disappear. Mix in the chopped peanuts. You’ll have a soft, pliable (mushable, actually) dough.

Pour the ½ cup of sugar into a small bowl. Working with a level tablespoonful of dough for each cookie, roll the dough between your palms into balls and drop the balls, a couple at a time, into the sugar. Roll the balls around in the sugar to coat them, then place on the baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between them. Dip the tines of a fork in sugar and press the tines against each ball first in one direction and then in a perpendicular direction – you should have a flattened round of dough with crisscross indentations.

Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. When done, the cookies will be lightly colored and still a little soft. Let the cookies sit on the sheets for a minute before transferring them to cooling racks with a wide metal spatula. Cool to room temperature.

Repeat with the remaining dough, making sure to cool the baking sheets between batches.

Storage:
The cookies will keep for at least 5 days in the cookie jar. Wrapped airtight, they can be frozen for up to 2 months.

Playing Around:For a chocolate version, reduce the flour to 2 cups and sift 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder into the dry ingredients. Use 1 cup chopped salted peanuts and add 1/3 cup finely chopped bittersweet chocolate (or chocolate chips, preferably minis) along with the nuts.Preparation: 10 minutes
Baking: 12 minutes per batch
Portions: 60 cookies