Peanut Butter Cookies

So I had a craving for peanut butter cookies the other day, and after searching through Pinterest, I found this recipe. (I guess these are also known as Welfare Peanut Butter cookies, as the recipe was originally found on the back of the generic canisters of peanut butter at food banks.)

2 1/2 c flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1 c fat*, at room temperature
1 c peanut butter
1 c white sugar
1 c brown sugar, packed
2 eggs

(*note: I used 1/2 c butter, 1/2 c Crisco)

Preheat oven to 375°.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
Cream the room temperature fat (butter, Crisco). Add the peanut butter and mix well. Add both sugars, and mix until creamed further. Add eggs and beat well.
Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture.
Drop by teaspoonful onto ungreased baking sheet. Use a fork to flatten with a criss-cross design.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until browned. (Time will vary based on the size of your cookies.)

Peanut Butter Dog Treats

If you have any furry friends of the dog variety, here is a recipe for Peanut Butter Treats that they might enjoy:

Peanut Butter Dog Treats

• 2 c whole wheat flour*
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/3 c oatmeal
• 1 c peanut butter
• 1 c almond milk

Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.  Set aside.

In another bowl, mix almond milk and peanut butter.  Then gradually add the dry mixture to the wet, and mix well.

Lightly flour your work surface, roll dough out to about 1/4" thickness and cut out shapes.  Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or until browned.

Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container.  They should be nice and crisp!

* If your dog cannot tolerate whole wheat, other types of flour may be substituted: oat, rice, soy, etc.

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Aunt Hazel's cookies ... via Natalie

So here's the recipe for the incredible chocolate chip cookies from Natalie. (Thanks Nat!!) It is a family recipe handed down to her from her aunt Hazel Erickson. (Thank you, Aunt Hazel!!)

Now... these bad boys call for shortening (read: Crisco). But Natalie swears it's what gives them their wonderful, crispy tender texture. So ... I guess I will be buying my first can of shortening very soon.

Aunt Hazel's Chocolate Chip Cookies ...

1 cup shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Cream above ingredients.
Fold in 2 well beaten eggs.
Sift 2 1/4 cup flour.
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
Add a bag of chocolate chips.
Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Recipe Alert: Chicken Creole Soup ...

I made this soup/stew over the weekend - and it is FABulous! Seriously. I am a soup snob. This is great! It has just enough "heat", plenty of body and lots of chicken. I'd even serve this to guests with some cornbread and a salad. I picked up this little mini-cookbook from Walgreen's the other day, and I have about two dozen recipes I'm dying to try.

Anyway... here's the recipe (fyi, anything with an asterisk means I veered from recipe):
Chicken Creole Soup
2 T butter
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
2 medium celery stalks, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 medium green bell pepper, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
2 t finely chopped garlic
2 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
1/4 c all purpose flour
2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes, undrained*
4 c (32 oz) reduced sodium chicken broth*
2 c water
1 c uncooked regular long grain white rice*
1 t salt
1/4 t ground red pepper (cayenne)
2 dried bay leaves

1: In 5 to 6 quart Dutch oven, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic and chicken; cook 7 to 9 minutes, stirring frequently, until onion is softened.

2: Stir in flour. Cook 5 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly, until flour is light brown.

3: Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover; cook 15 to 20* minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender and chicken is no longer pink in center. Remove bay leaves.

*CHANGES*
...I used one 14.5oz can seasoned (for chili) diced tomatoes and one can 10 oz can Rotel (all I had in the house)
...I used regular chicken broth
...I used brown rice instead of white, which also meant I needed to adjust the simmer time to about 40 minutes to allow the brown rice to fully cook

I also let it sit on the stove, with the burner off and the lid off - to let some of the liquid evaporate -- I like it more like a stew.

(And I swear, I can't find the booklet for sale online... sorry.)