Spicy Peanut Butter Cookies Food

THE BEST PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Process the peanuts in a food processor until very finely ground; it should be the consistency of almond flour. Whisk together the ground peanuts, flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
• Beat the brown sugar, granulated sugar, peanut butter, eggs, melted butter, honey and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer until completely smooth. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low until a soft dough forms.
• Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time (or using a 1-ounce ice cream scoop), roll the dough into balls. Evenly space them on the prepared baking sheets (12 balls per sheet). Sprinkle with the raw sugar.
• Bake the cookies, 1 baking sheet at a time, until the edges are just set and just beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

THE BEST BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter and granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for a full 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl halfway through the mixing; the butter should be very light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on medium speed until well combined. Add half the dry ingredients and beat on low speed to combine. Scrape down the mixing bowl before adding the remaining dry ingredients and beat to combine. Refrigerate for 1 hour in the bowl for drop cookies, or form into a 1-inch log for slice-and-bake cookies.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place the turbinado sugar in a small bowl. For drop cookies, scoop the cookie dough with a 1 tablespoon-size cookie scoop and then dip the tops of the cookie dough balls into the sugar. Place onto the prepared baking sheet.
• For slice-and-bake cookies, cut the log into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Press the tops into the sugar and place on the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake the cookies until slightly puffed and lightly golden on the bottom, about 15 minutes.

VEGAN PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream peanut butter, sugars and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in almond milk. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. , Shape level tablespoonfuls into balls. Place 2 in. apart on parchment-lined baking sheets; flatten with a fork. Bake until set, 8-10 minutes. Cool on pan 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

SPICY PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg and vanilla. Blend all the dry ingredients. Add to creamed ingredients. Shape into 1-inch balls and coat in cinnamon/sugar coating mixture. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet 1 to 2 inches apart.
• Bake at 375F for 10 - 13 minutes.

SCARY PEANUT BUTTER SPIDER COOKIES

Steps:

• Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Separate the chocolate candy balls into larger and smaller balls. The larger balls will make up the spider bodies and the smaller balls the heads.
• Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Cream the sugar and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the vanilla and egg and mix until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Add the peanut butter and mix until creamy, about 1 minute. Turn the mixer speed down to low and add half of the flour mixture. Beat on medium until incorporated, then turn the speed down to low again and add the rest of the flour mixture. Beat on medium until incorporated.
• Roll the dough by hand into 1-inch balls, place about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets and bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until the cookies are light golden brown and have spread to about 2 inches wide, about 16 minutes. The cookies are done when they smell very peanut buttery and the tops feel dry and slightly firm when pressed with fingers.
• Meanwhile, melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Remove from the heat and let cool briefly so that it is slightly thickened but still pipe-able.
• When the cookies are done, remove them from the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack. Immediately push 2 chocolate candies directly into each hot cookie, putting a smaller chocolate ball toward the edge of the cookie and a larger chocolate ball directly behind it in the center of the cookie.
• When the melted chocolate has thickened slightly, put it into a plastic bag and cut a small hole in the corner to create a piping bag. Pipe 8 legs on each cookie, starting from the point where the 2 chocolate candies meet. Pipe the front 4 legs so that they curve up toward the head and the back 4 legs so that they curve backward beyond the body. Reserve the remaining chocolate in the piping bag for the pupils of the eyes.
• To make eyes, pipe two 1/4-inch circles on the "heads" of each spider with the cake decorating gel. Pipe a tiny dot of the reserved melted chocolate in the center of each to make the pupils.