Peanut Butter Cookies

     Recently, I've noticed that there are primarily two types of amateur bakers. First, there are those, like myself, who prefer large, whole baked goods meant to slice and share (i.e. cakes, cheesecakes, pies, tartes). Then, there are those who specialize in individual baked goods like cupcakes and cookies. As for cupcakes, I've always found them a little too trendy to be inspired to make many of them. The one time I tried, sure, I ended up with something yummy, but all day, I felt like I was on some obnoxious Food Network reality show. As for cookies, the reason I often shy away from them is that I usually end up liking the store-bought ones better. I usually over-bake mine because while they're good fresh from the oven, the concept of a soft, preservative-free leftover cookie kind of grosses me out. Still, most cookie recipes just aren't that good if they're too crunchy. Except these. These peanut butter cookies are just as delicious two days later as the minute they came out of the oven. Somehow, the crunch factor is just right. Even though I'm not the biggest peanut butter fan in the world, I get a craving for these cookies about twice a year, and since I'll be going to Europe soon, I figured I may as well get my fix now. Not that I'll miss it or anything when I'm in the land of Nutella.

INGREDIENTS: (makes 24-30)
1 stick of softened salted butter (The salt really works with peanut butter.)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup flour
a few tablespoons of extra granulated sugar for rolling

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a couple of cookie sheets, or be extra careful and line them with parchment paper.
2. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, peanut butter, and both sugars. Once that's fluffy, add the egg and vanilla.

3. Add the baking soda and flour in batches and beat on medium speed until dough is completely smooth.
4. Form balls out of about 2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie. The dough shouldn't be too sticky to handle, but to make it even easier to work with, pop it in the fridge for a few minutes before this step.
5. Spoon a little bit of extra granulated sugar into a small bowl and roll each dough ball in it to coat all sides. Then place them on the cookie sheets with a few inches in between.

6. To get the typical peanut butter cookie crisscross top, grab a fork and gently press each cookie once in each direction, dipping the fork in water after each cookie to keep it from sticking. Don't press them out too much because they still will expand quite a bit while baking.

7. For the perfect crunch, bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes.

*Variation: if you want, you can skip the crisscross step and instead, bake them a little less and then stick a Hershey's kiss in the middle when you first take them out of the oven. Maybe it's a cliché Christmas cookie, but I like them.

     I'm really glad I finally found a classic cookie recipe that I honestly love. I'm still working on ones for chocolate chip, oatmeal, and others, but I know I'll get there someday. Enjoy, and keep checking back for more!