Peanut Cookies

Holy cow! It has been a while. There was a lot going on so I had to take a break from baking. But I am back! I found some great new cook books filled with delicious sounding recipes. The first one I ha to make involves peanuts just for my sweetie. He's been very patient during the baking drought.

I pulled this recipe from  the 1940's Metropolitan Cook Book which was put out by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. This is one of the several cookbooks I found while on vacation.

Looks simple enough and it does not look like it is going to produce 15 dozen cookies. Yeah! One common problem I am having with some of these older recipes is the amount of cookies I actually get from them. Despite what he says, neither I nor my boyfriend need 5 dozen cookies in the house.

I decided to use unsalted butter as the fat since I always have lots of it on hand. Had to buy some peanuts but gave my sweetie the rest of the container. It lasted less than a week. 

There doesn't seem like there is enough butter...but let's keep going. Gonna add the eggs.

It's starting to take shape. A nice and fluffy dough!

Always read the entire recipe first. Sometimes I don't but it is a good practice to get into. I was not paying attention and added the peanuts to the cookie dough.

It did not feel like there was quite enough peanuts so I added more to the top. 

After just 12 minutes I got these fluffy cuties!

My kitchen smells like peanuts! 

These baked up nice and fluffy. And smell delicious!

These came together quick and easy and didn't require anything special. I didn't even have to bust out the standing mixer! They were very light in texture and flavor. These will not be mistaken for peanut butter cookies. The peanut taste was barely there. If I hadn't mistakenly added peanuts to the mix there would not have been much peanut flavor. That being said, they were delicious. Easy enough to throw together in a pinch and you just have to remember to add extra peanuts.

My Rating: Pretty good. Easy for a last minute cookie.

Dylan Rating: "Needs more peanuts but it's nice."

Salted Peanut Cookies

A couple of months ago one of my aunts contacted me and asked if I wanted two old cookbooks. Of course I wanted them! One is a typed community cookbook and the other is a green spiral notebook filled with handwritten recipes and clipped recipes from newspapers. My dad actually recognized the book from sitting on the shelf of his mother's old house. It is worn and a little water damaged but filled with interesting recipes. The handwritten ones are harder to read and follow the old recipe style: list of ingredients followed by 'mix and bake until done.' I'm not quite ready to tackle one of those! Instead I found a newspaper clipping of a cookie recipe from Ruttger's Lodge. Since I am dating a peanut addict, I thought I'd give it a chance.

Still not certain on the original date but I'm guessing it was started in the 1930's or 1940's and then continues through at least the 1970's.

A hand written cookbook and I decide to go with the printed recipe. But it is suppose to be 'good enough for Paul Bunyan.' 😀

Only had to get the cornflakes! (Now what do I do with a bock of cornflakes?) The most difficult part was hiding the peanuts from Dylan.

Ohhh...butter and sugar...yum!

Dump it all in and mix!

It's a very thick dough. I'm not certain the point of the cornflakes. I kinda feel like they are going to get either crushed or mushy in the baking.

Drop cookies are the best. Not just because they are the easiest.

These cookies spread! I'm glad I left plenty of room because they are large and thin. And they smell soo soo soo good!

These look so good! And smell heavenly!! You can actually see the cornflakes in the cookies. I'm surprised.

These were amazing cookies! Super easy to put together and bake and they tasted wonderful! It made a fairly large batch so you can share them (unless your boyfriend eats them all). I managed to get a couple out to friends before Dylan stole the bag. I might try chopping up the peanuts next time. Maybe. I enjoyed the large chunks of peanut. To my surprise you could actually taste the cornflakes and they added a great flavor and crunch to the cookies.

My Rating: Keeper!

Dylan's Rating: These are my new favorite!!

Salted Peanut Crips

After my last interesting experiment (which everyone who actually tried the cheese straws admits that they were not bad!) I thought I should go for something a little less out there. And my entire office goes crazy for peanuts. This recipe came from Gold Medal Flour's Jubilee Recipe book. It is a collection of recipes from 1880 to 1955 updated for the 'modern' age. I love it!

The recipe looks easy enough and everyone is happy! What a great mom!

 I have no idea why I had a huge bag of salted peanuts, I don't even like them, but worked for me. I did not use butter only shortening. Butter shortening would probably work best. I did not have any.

 There is almost as many peanuts as dough. I hope these actually bake.

 I love the extra sugar on top. You can always use more sugar on top!

 These baked up beautifully but let them cool completely. Crispy is better than soft in this case.

 Ta Da! Beautiful crispy cookies! My kitchen smells like peanut butter. Not a bad thing!

These cookies were amazing! Quick and easy to make and everyone loved them. I thought they were pretty good and would gladly make them again. Everyone else went crazy. They did not last 2 days in the office. The dough was very thick and it took some arm muscles to get everything mixed all together. The amount of peanuts to actual cookie was perfect!

My Rating: Great! Will make again.

Friends and Family Rating: "Best Cookies Ever!" 

Crunchy Peanut Bars

I love chocolate but sometimes you need a change. I can't tell you why I chose this recipe except that it seemed easy and I haven't done many from this particular cookbook, The New Antoinette Pope School Cookbook from 1961. I'm still trying to get back into the baking habit and was just looking for something easy to make. Yep, I was not particularly excited. Just gotta bake.

Lots and lots of peanuts! The instructions look long but are actually very simple. One of the great things about this cookbook since it is a 'school' cookbook, the instructions are very detailed and easy to follow.

More peanuts than anything else. I think I need more colorful bowls especially when most of my ingredients are brown.

This creates a very stiff dough. I got a nice arm workout though!

I talked a little about my new and much smaller kitchen. Here's a glimpse at my limited counter space. It makes cooking a bit more interesting and forces me to get creative with my use of space.

 Dough in the pan! Not exactly the correct sized pan but it still works.

 Topped with a healthy layer of peanuts.

I wasn't certain if the peanuts on top would actually stick but most of them did! You must cut this when it is still slightly warm or you will end up with peanut crumbles and not peanut bars. 

 Very crunchy bars. My apartment smells like peanut butter....yum...

These are amazing! So much better than I even expected. I love the crunch and the simple peanut flavor. These also kept very well and stayed nice and crisp for several days.

My Rating: Keeper! These may make a return around the holidays.

Friends & Family Rating: "I love these!" Lots of people loved how crunchy they were and how simple.

Dixie Creamed Peanuts

What happened to spring?!! It made a brief appearance and then ran away. Not very nice, Spring.

I love desserts. Obviously. But I thought I would adventure into something a little bit different. I was given this fantastic set of American Cookery cookbooks from 1935. Interesting stories and recipes!

 This recipe caught my eye because it features peanuts as a main dish and I like brown rice.

Naturally the only thing I was missing was the peanuts. Of course.

The cream took a little while to thicken but it was a pretty easy recipe. Yum...I think...

There was not much to this thing. The paprika added a bright pop of color to this dull dish.

This recipe is a product of the Depression era, a mix of simple ingredients making a filling and fairly nutritional meal. (I added some veggies to the dinner.) Surprisingly, it tasted very good if a little bland and the crunch of the peanuts gave it just enough texture to not be boring. Even though it looks like it should be a dessert it was not sweet.

My Rating: Not bad.

Friend and Family Rating: "Peanuts for dinner?"