Sometimes, I get the urge.  The urge to merge wet and dry ingredients.  The urge to stir.

One of the reasons I cook so much is because I get easily bored and then I have to find something to do.  I have books to read, movies to watch, house to clean, dog to keep from drooling everywhere…but it’s not the same.  I prefer to be cooking.  And since I can’t cook two dinners a night, I end up baking something.  It calms me.  I listen to music (mostly Motown) and bop around in my kitchen.  Sprinkle a little of this, a pinch of that, an estimated teaspoon of something or another, a handful of chocolate chips…or four.

This is pretty much what happened last night.  I cleaned the kitchen after dinner, sat down on the couch to relax, opened up Evernote, saw a recipe I’d recently collected, got off the couch, went back to the kitchen, made sure I had brown sugar, went back to the living room, got my laptop, went back to the kitchen and began to bake.  These are the days of my life.

Anyway, the recipe was from Smitten Kitchen and it was for peanut butter cookies.  I have several pb cookie recipes, including one that’s currently my go-to, but I’m always willing to try a new one and this one did look good.  I did alter it a bit–I skipped the “roll the dough in sugar” step because well, the dough was pretty sticky and i didn’t want to mess around with it.

I also skipped the peanut butter chips because one, I don’t have any and two, I don’t want any, so I just added more chocolate chips.  I also might mention that the recipe is right when it says that the cookies won’t look done when you pull them out of the oven—they won’t.  They also won’t feel done.  Don’t move them.  Just let them cool and harden for a couple of minutes, or else they’ll fall apart when you try to move them over to a plate or a cooling rack.  I don’t think they’ll replace my other cookie recipe but I will make them again (perhaps properly this time, I dunno, we’ll see how I feel that day) and they are strangely compelling.

Peanut Butter Cookies
from Smitten Kitchen

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature (smooth is what we used, but I am pretty sure they use chunky at the bakery)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup chocolate chips

For sprinkling: 1 tablespoon sugar, regular or superfine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter and chocolate chips. Place sprinkling sugar — the remaining tablespoon — on a plate. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a crisss-cross pattern (I used the back of a small offset spatula to keep it smooth on top), but do not overly flatten cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.

Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.