[Travel through time - Chewy peanut butter cookies]

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American and British cuisines are becoming a big phenomenon, here in France. Everyone wants his piece of cheesecake, his fairycake or his pancakes.
Actually I reckon it is a good thing that British food finally meets the glory it deserves.

I discovered AmerEnglish food quite early in life. At that time, I would only swear by carrot cakes, London cheesecakes and muffins.
These were so easy to make for a 10-year-old but were also very rewarding: tasty, moist and delicious.

When I went through this ‘I love American and British food’ phase, one of my favourite ingredients was peanut butter.
I guess I won’t be wrong by saying that, in France, we have some wonderful butter. Thus, I was a bit unsure of the combinaison of cachuète and beurre. Was it butter with peanut chunks?
The answer finally came when my mother agreed to buy me a jar of peanut butter. Tout ça pour ça? C’est juste une crème marron [All that mess, just for a brownish paste?].

But when I opened the jar, an irresistible smell came out of it: peanuty yet very sweet.
I could here the crushed peanut shouting ‘Eat me, please’. I grabbed the nearest spoon and delighted myself with that sticky paste.

Today, I still love peanut butter, though I buy it less often because of its processed nature.
I have to admit peanut butter isn’t that good. But to be honest, I think the only reason I find it so yummy is nostalgia. I might be a bit of a bore with that, but you know how much I believe of the power of the food you’ve eaten as a child.
Some people have to invent complex machines to travel through time. My solution is far easier. I just open a jar of peanut butter and its smell sends me ten years back.

Chewy peanut butter cookies
I love these cookies: chewy inside and crispy outside.
And the big bonus is the wonderful taste of peanut.
Really, what’s not to love? Chewy cookies + delicious peanut-ish taste!

Chewy peanut butter cookies

makes 30 cookies

4 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
2 cups light muscovado sugar
1 cup caster sugar
seeds from 1 vanilla pod
100g butter, cold and cut in cubes
350g crunchy peanut butter, cold
3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 160°C.
In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Rub in the butter and peanut butter until you’ve got a crumbly texture.
Add the eggs, one at a time and mix until smooth (fanny: the dough should be very crumbly).
Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Form small balls of dough and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until slightly golden (fanny: the interior should almost raw; take care because the hot cookies are very difficult to handle with).

Posted by fanny who loves biscuits and cookies, nuts, recipe inside