Amy Fritch’s Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
(no flour is used in this recipe)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place rack in the middle. Grease two cookie sheets or line them with parchment paper.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the peanut butter and sugar until well combined. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg and beat into the peanut butter mixture along with the baking soda until well combined.

Roll level teaspoons of dough into balls and arrange them about one inch apart on the cookie sheets. With the tines of a fork, flatten the balls to about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, making a crosshatch pattern. Bake the cookies in batches on the middle rack until puffed and pale golden, about 10 minutes.

Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Notes: According to McCullough and Hamlin, the recipe works best with commercial creamy peanut butter. Organic non hydrogenated peanut butter will work, but the cookies will be crumbly. The authors also recommend adding 1/2 teaspoon salt and pressing a whole salted peanut in the center of each cookie.

dorthy