Peanut Butter Cookies

Smooth, creamy, peanut-buttery-liciousness. What could be better? This is another of my great-grandmother Florence Robinson Beck’s (1905-1998) recipes. Soft and tender, these are melt-in-your-mouth cookies that are heavenly paired with a glass of milk. This classic treat never gets old.

Raising a young family during the Depression in Utah, Florence was practical, frugal, and hardworking–yet quietly elegant. She always tried to keep her hands busy and learned to apply her artistic abilities to creatively repurpose what others might have seen as worthless into something useful or beautiful. She was the queen of recycling before recycling was even a “thing.” She took cloth scraps and sewed them (by hand) into high quality clothes for her children. She made stunning Christmas decorations, gift cards, puzzles, you name it, all from scraps of used cardboard, aluminum cans, and other “leftover” items. She couldn’t stand waste and maintained this trait for the rest of her life.

Her daughter Janet recalled how even during the last few years of her life, she would save and repurpose used pizza boxes into “cake trays” (by cutting out and covering the sturdy cardboard top or base) that she would use to transport cakes to church activities. On that note, perhaps in part because of these activities, she was well-known by neighbors and family for her baked goods, especially her cakes, sweet breads, and cookies. When she was in charge of organizing an activity, she would tell the women who had volunteered to bring cookies to please bring them “slightly underbaked,” because she felt that most people tended to overbake their cookies just a touch.

I grew up hearing that story, and remembering to “slightly underbake” my cookies has been a useful tip, which certainly applies in this recipe as well! Cookies continue baking during those few minutes they spend cooling on the sheet, so even if they appear slightly underdone at first glance when you pull them out of the oven, they will finish cooking a bit as they cool. This is key if you love soft, chewy cookies! However, you don’t want raw dough in the middle, so if it’s apparent that they’re not close to done, go ahead and give them another minute or two in the oven as needed. The bottom edges should just be turning golden.

Now, back to Florence’s Peanut Butter Cookies. I did make a couple of adjustments to this recipe: Florence calls for shortening, as many recipes of the era do, but I prefer the rich taste butter provides, so I usually use butter instead. However, if you’re looking to make a dairy-free cookie, just stick with the shortening. They’re still tender and delicious that way! I also add 1 Tbs vanilla to the recipe, because I’m kind of addicted and tend to throw it in everything. It adds extra depth of flavor.

Scoop them out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. I use parchment because it seems to produce a more tender, evenly-baked cookie. Try not to eat all of the dough at this point (in fact, it contains raw eggs, so probably don’t eat any), but I won’t judge.

Just use the ol’ fork technique. Don’t smoosh them too flat–think pillows:

Here’s the recipe: