Peanut Butter Cookies

Recently, someone posed a question to me. Why are some cookies as hard as a rock?

I was a little taken aback, because I didn't think that cookies could go so wrong. Cookies have very simple steps, but are yet the most versatile. Everywhere you'll find thousands of recipes for a single type of cookie. It is the best stepping stone for any beginner, or for last minute presents (especially to impress your other half!) So in any case, I thought about what could go wrong and decided to start:

Fionainthekitchen Lesson #01

Recipe: Peanut butter cookies

170g butter

105g brown sugar

100g brown sugar

100g caster sugar

185g peanut butter

280g plain flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla essence

80g raw peanut (chopped)

1) Whisk sugars and butters together.

2) Pour in beaten egg and vanilla essence and whisk.

3) Fold in sifted flour and then peanut.

4) Preheat oven at 180C and bake for till golden brown.

So firstly, prepare all your ingredients and make sure your work table is clean and tidy.

Whisk until the colour changes to a lighter brown. This is a very important step for incorporating air into the mixture. Whisk in a clockwise/ anticlockwise direction and the colour will fade because butter becomes lighter when creamed with sugar. In this case, due to the brown sugar and peanut butter, it is a little less obvious.

After the addition of the egg and vanilla essence, this is another significant step which will ensure that the cookies retain air holes, bringing about cookies that the teeth can handle! Folding in is a method that involves the use of a spatula which cuts and 'folds' the dough. It is done in a clockwise direction, and turning the bowl constantly helps to speed things up. To mix the flour in i.e. in a stirring motion, would be a big mistake. Remember to sift the flour as it incorporates air.

When done, roll into balls. Here's a tip, the smaller your cookies, the more addictive they are. Be careful, they're so addictive it can be lethal for those with a sweet tooth!

Use a fork and press down the balls.

How then do you know it's cooked? When you flip the cookie over, it must be golden brown. Don't worry if it feels a bit soft, it will harden once it's cooled.

Finally, fill the crunch when you bite into one of them!

Hopefully this helps in the creation of many delicious cookies. Remember, cookies like cake also require air to be incorporated inside. So folding in and whisking of the butter is very important. Lastly, bake with confidence and you can't go too wrong!