Classic Peanut Butter Cookies

One the course I choose to do this year for my senior year in high school was Nutritional Living. Reason being was, well, I thought it'd be good to learn more about healthier foods and healthier ways of cooking. I mean, I'm a junk food, meat, sweet addict. To learn how to have meat as well as sweets in a healthier way, I thought it'd be good for not only me, but for the people I cook and bake for, you know?

This class is about health foods. So, I found it kind of funny how the first thing we we're going to make were Peanut Butter Cookies. Go figure. Not that I'd obey though. Since peanut butter cookies happen to be one of my all time favorite cookies! Peanut butter cookies are the best cookie choice for milk. Well, that's just me though. Most like chocolate chip cookies or, the famous one, Oreos. But I'm a peanut butter cookie girl ;]

The recipe we made in class was a basic peanut butter cookie. The same recipe I've used many many times with my mom and my grammys. It's a classic. Classics are the best!

Recipe

1 cup shortening
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine shortening, peanut butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs. Stir thoroughly till combined.

3. In a medium bowl, shirt flour, powder, soda and salt. Slowly, add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture.

4. Roll into 1 1/4 inch bolls and place on baking sheet. With a fork, make a criss-cross pattern on the top, flattening it slightly.

5. Place in oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. Once done, let sit for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Yields 6 1/2 dozen 2 1/2 inch sized cookies