Peanut Butter Cookies

This is a variation of a Shirley Sadler recipe for peanut butter cookies from allrecipes.com. Peanut butter cookies are an American classic. They're quick and easy to make.

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 cup (250 g) crunchy peanut butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 ½ cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup (300 g) chocolate chips (optional)

Mix the butter, peanut butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir this into the first batter. Mix in chocolate chips (optionally). Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Roll the batter into 1 inch balls and place on a buttered cookie sheet. Flatten each ball with a fork to make a criss-cross pattern. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cookies begin to brown. Do not over-bake. Cool and eat.

It's easy to over-cook these cookies. If you do, the cookies will get crispy when they cool. In that case, crush them and mix them in with your granola the next morning. Also, when you're flattening the dough balls with a fork, if the dough gets warm (i.e., room temperature), it will stick to the fork. In that case, either put it in the fridge to cool again, or do without the criss-cross lines. The cookies will taste good either way.