Soft & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

 A sweet reader of my blog, named Jessica, saw my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies post and heard my plea for anyone with a good chewy peanut butter cookie recipe. She e-mailed me two recipes and this is the first of the two that I tried. It was perfect! The cookies definitely live up to their name: they are absolutely soft and chewy. She found this recipe in an article from Cooks Country Magazine, and I'm so glad she passed it along to me! I did change a couple things, but the bones are the same. I still want to try her other peanut butter cookie recipe, but I can't imagine it turning out better than this one. I am keeping my Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Take 2) in my repertoire for when I want a peanut butter and chocolate combo cookie - but if I'm in the mood for a straight peanut butter cookie, this will be it. Thank you Jessica!!
     I made them in a hurry to take to the guys at the fire station, so I didn't take step by step pictures, but it's really easy to whip together. I honestly just turned my stand mixer on and left it mixing until all the ingredients were in. Super simple.

I did freeze more than half of the batter, but instead of just scooping it and freezing it like I usually do - I pressed each cookie with a fork to make a cross-hatch pattern. This way I don't have to wait for them to fully defrost before baking. :) I just put the cookie dough in the freezer like this, and when it's frozen solid I put the individual cookie dough disks into a labeled zip-top freezer bag. This way I can bake as many or as few cookies as I would like on a whim.

These cookies smelled so good while making them (both in the dough form and the cooked form) that it made me want to make my mom's peanut butter fudge recipe. (My favorite childhood peanut butter smell memory.) Hopefully I can make it soon and post it so all of you can enjoy it too! (Just in time for the holidays.)

Here's the recipe:
adapted from Cooks Country Cooking

Soft & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cups creamy peanut butter (processed peanut butter makes chewier cookies)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick (8 Tbsp) salted butter, very soft
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and sugars. Turn the mixer on medium speed. With the mixer running, add the salt, vanilla, corn syrup, egg, egg yolk and baking soda. When everything looks well combined, turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides. Then turn the mixer on low and SLOWLY add the flour a little at a time until completely combined. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides again (if needed). Scoop the dough into about 1 inch balls (I use the smallest scoop I own) an place 2 inches apart on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. (If you find the dough is too soft, you can refrigerate it for up to 1 hour before scooping.) Using the tines of a fork, make a cross-hatch pattern on the top of each cookie. Bake @ 350F for 8 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown and the tops are no longer shiny. Cool for a couple minutes on the cookie sheet before moving to a cooling rack. Makes about 2 1/2 to 3 dozen (depending on cookie size).