Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

From

October/November 2010

Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

Switching from shortening to butter made the task of creating Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies more difficult, but the superior flavor was worth the complication. Thanks to hydrogenated oils used in manufacturing, processed peanut butter produced a chewier cookie than natural peanut butter. The chewiest recipes we encountered were sweetened with honey, but we found the flavor overbearing. To retain the moisture of honey without sacrificing flavor, we used light corn syrup instead. We cut back on the egg white in our recipe and added more peanut butter to make up for the loss of moisture. Baking soda reacted quickly with the acidic ingredients in the dough to create bubbles that expanded in the heat of the oven. This caused the cookies to puff up and deflate before their structure had time to set, leaving the centers soft and chewy.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Use processed peanut butter for the softest, chewiest texture. The dough is quite soft, so keep it chilled until you are ready to form and bake the cookies.

Ingredients

The recipe you requested is for
Members Only.

Start Your 14-Day Free Trial Membership

Every Recipe. Every Rating. Every Video from
Every Magazine & Every Episode!
  • 8 years of Cook’s Country Foolproof Recipes
  • Complete Cook’s Country TV Video Library
  • 2,900+ Equipment Ratings and Ingredient Taste Tests
  • Step-by-Step Technique Photos
  • Save Favorites, Create Menus, Print Shopping Lists
How we use your e-mail address
Christopher Kimball, Founder and Publisher

Dear Home Cook,

If I were new to CooksCountry.com, I might think, "It's easy to get free recipes on the Internet. What makes your recipes different?" Well, unlike recipes from blogs, message boards, and other recipe sites, our recipes are exhaustively tested by our team of full-time test cooks until they offer consistently great results. That means fried chicken with a crunchy coating and moist meat, a low-fat recipe makeover for macaroni and cheese that’s as creamy and cheesy as the full-fat version, and fork-tender slow cooker pot roast.

We're obsessive in our quest to find and foolproof the best of American home cooking, from fuss-free weeknight dinners, to updated, simplified versions of regional specialties, to slow cooker and make ahead meals. CooksCountry.com is the only place you can find every foolproof recipe published in Cook’s Country magazine since 2005, plus objective ratings and test results from both Cook’s Country and Cook’s Illustrated for cookware and supermarket ingredients.

Let me make a simple, no-nonsense offer. Try out our website FREE for a 14-Day, No-Hassle Trial Offer. I’m pretty confident that CooksCountry.com will quickly become an invaluable resource for everything from a quick Tuesday supper to your next get-together with family and friends.

Thanks for your consideration,

Christopher Kimball

Christopher Kimball
Founder and Publisher

How we use your e-mail address