Peanut Butter Cookies ...p99

A Victor is declared in the battle of the Peanut Butter Cookies....

It seems we either love peanut butter or we don't.  I happen to love peanut butter, but steer clear of popping too many cookies in my mouth when my husband is near.  One might think he had an allergy to peanuts from his ability to whiff the first, escaping trace from the lifting of the lid.  Worse if I seductively lick it off my lips as he enters the room.  Nothing like the aroma of peanut butter to kill the mood.  Perhaps his dislike stems from his brother's great love of peanut butter - one got the love gene, the other the don't like (I won't say hate, as he wouldn't like that word too much!).

While these peanut butter cookies are nothing to complain about, we all (minus my husband) concurred that the "Classic Peanut Butter Cookies" on the same page of the cookbook is tastier and creamier.  Perhaps this is due to the fact it has 1/2 cup more butter....yum, I love butter.   But if you need to save that last stick of butter, then by all means, these cookies will satisfy your peanut butter tastebuds just fine!

Hardy Appetit!

Benné (Sesame Seed) Cookies ...p102

"Open Sesame"

One thing I love about blogging is it satisfies my perpetual student desires.  After all, did you know that the term "open sesame", used in Arabian Nights, came from the way the sesame seed pod bursts open when ripe?  I can just envision some hungry desert nomad sitting alongside a sesame plant, imploring "open! sesame!" for tiny morsels of nutrient rich food.  I also just learned that African slaves carried benné seeds (their term for sesame seeds) to our shores, where it was readily assimilated into Southern cooking.  And, for a little pipsqueak of a seed, sesame packs a wallop in nutrients: manganese and copper, as well as calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, vitamin B1, zinc and dietary fiber.  Copper aids in the relief of rheumatoid arthritis by reducing inflammation.  For more info, check out whfoods.com.

and why did Southern Comfort change their logo?  I miss the Plantation!!!

These cookies are one of our favorite Christmas treats as much because of what they aren't as  what they are -  flavorful, delightfully crisp nibbles,  but NOT that sweet!  They're the perfect antidote to over consumption of sugar during the holidays.  We keep a tin full to nibble on.

My only negative comment would be the expense of sesame seeds - since this recipes calls for a cup (and you will want to make the entire recipe), I'd like to find a source for a cheaper purchase.  I actually ordered my pesto pine nuts through E-Bay and have enough pine nuts to last a year (another product I cringe at buying for their expense).

The critic really enjoyed these tasty cookies....a shot of bourbon helps, but next Christmas, I'll have to order the real stuff: Old Rip Van Winkle Handmade Bourbon! 

Hardy Appetit!

Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies ...p101

Ok, I'm prejudiced.  Of all the cookies I've ever had these are my main weakness...so this was Wedding Cookie #3.  Equestrian and friend, Donna Glanville, gave me this recipe years ago so to her, I will always be grateful both for my time with her horses and eating these cookies in her kitchen....

Spend the time beating the cream; it makes a difference to the texture.  And you don't have to use the ice cream scoop unless you're indulgent!  I make up for down-sizing them by having twice as many......

And, incidentally, if you've already tried to make these and wondered at the small amount of flour - your instincts were right - the recipe in the book has a typo.  Be sure to correct it (recipe follows).

Hardy Appetit!

Classic Peanut Butter Cookies ...p99

Cookie #2 taken to the wedding.  These went extremely fast - one of the best peanut butter cookie recipes I've tried, but I'll have to let you know how they compare to Kimberly's recipe when I attempt another batch.

I refrigerated the raw batch for about an hour before rolling into the little balls and flattening - they made perfect little circles and I was so excited!  I know, it's silly, but so often I get the cracking around the edges that drives me nuts!


As the recipe says, do not overbake.  Set your timer for the 10 minutes as part of their delectability is their softness.

Hardy Appetit!

O-So-GOOD Oatmeal Cookies ...p99

Appropriately this recipe was submitted to the cookbook by KATIE....and I just noticed the title as I typed, wondering if it has any bearing to her new family? 

The addition of instant pudding to these O-So-GOOD cookies make them literally melt in your mouth - something I'm not used to with oatmeal cookies.  More cakelike in texture than your average oatmeal cookie perhaps because I omitted the chocolate chips since I was also making chocolate chip cookies.

My recommendation - double it!

Hardy Appetit!

Quickie Cookies a La Stovetop ...p100

Anxious to satisfy some sweet tooths in the family (ok, teeth just does not sound right here!  but would it be?), I whipped up this cookie recipe that promised "quick."  It satisfied that title, but met with mixed reaction - Nana snickered.....but the rest ate them up promptly with a satisfied grin.  We also agreed that they were even better the next day - aging here is quite appropriate.

We used creamy peanut butter, but probably would have liked crunchy better as the recipe indicated.

Hardy Appetit!