Confessions of a Bad Mother
I am a bad mother and always have been. I don't like making cookies. It's too much fiddley putting things in and taking them out, then more in, and don't forget the putting them one at a time on cooling racks and some crazed people even frost and decorate them. And for what?
Half the kids you talk to when asked what is their favorite cookie will say, "Chips Ahoy! or "Oreos!" I cannot even imagine how those exclamation points got in there, but believe me, I've heard them. People wait all year for a special season when uniformed dwarf women will come to the door and charge you a lot of money for cookies you can buy only once a year. I take that back. I do like Girl Scouts, really I do. I was a Brownie leader one memorable year.
No, I like better to spend time patiently beating in one egg at a time, buttering and crumbing a mold, put one thing in the oven one time, then have it come out looking glorious to waiting hunger-maddened crowds who have been smelling it cook.
But today I made cookies. And they're pretty good, fairly healthy as cookies go, and since I made only a few, also not something that will call my name at midnight. It was an attempt to make something American with what I can buy here. I am giving you the whole recipe, however, since it is really picky to divide a single egg.
Please suggest names because I haven't been inspired.
You will need:
1/2 cup peanut butter -- the plain kind with nothing added
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
Put this all into a bowl and beat it until it is thoroughly mixed and fluffy.
Then measure out:
1-1/4 cup flour (00 here)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
and mix it around with a fork.
With a chef's knife, cut a bar of really good bittersweet chocolate into chunks and flakes until you have about a cup of them. I used Valrhona, because I think it is better than all the other chocolates I have ever cooked with. Anyway, this is not the place to use crappy chocolate that your kid likes. He'll like it when it is cooked in this cookie, but better, you will still like it.
Using a big spoon, stir the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture. Then stir the chocolate bits into it. Stick the bowl into the refrigerator for a while to chill. I think this takes about 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 350° F or 175° C.
Line cookie sheets with baking paper. Taking small teaspoonsful of the batter, drop little balls of it every 2 inches or so on the cookie sheet paper. When they are all on there, take a fork and mash each little ball down flat. Slide them into the oven and cook them for 10 minutes or less. Mine actually cooked in about 7, but they were wee small. They need to be set but not firm. Take them out and slide the paper right onto a cold counter (no fiddley cooling racks!) and stick the next cookie sheet in the oven. With luck you will only have to do three loads. If there is more batter, it tastes really good raw.
If I ever make them again, I will consider some chopped peanuts in half of them. I wouldn't want the peanuts to dull the effect of the good chocolate. If you live in a place where there is chunky peanut butter, that's probably the real answer to some inner crunch. The edges of these are crisp, the centers are soft and the chocolate is still distinguished even though sweetened enough for kids to like. Now I suppose I'll hear some whining about how I never made cookies when I had a child. Yeah, yeah, but I made ravioli!
13 Comments:
How about "Phone Home" cookies? I remember that E.T. loved Reeces Pieces and these are essentially small, and of chocolate and peanut butter.
Save a few for me!
alisonk
Un-hunh. You only made raviolis once or twice.
No wonder I love cookies so much -- I was deprived as a child. And I don't at all like most pre-made cookies. By the way, did you know they stopped making Lemon Coolers? I am sad.
These sound pretty good but no peanuts! Chunky p.b. sounds all right, though.
By the way ...
raw dough?!
Eek! Salmonella!
I didn't know making, or not making, cookies made you a good/bad Mom.
School is getting close to being done, I can hardly wait.
As you can see Leola, eg agrees that I was a bad mother.
Alison, those can be your unique contribution to humanity. Good luck on finding Reeses Pieces. The today I made those cookies was weeks ago, so no luck, none for you until another boring winter day.
Salmonella is dangerous to weak people, very young and very old. I don't define myself in there. Now if you had a whole petri dish full, maybe...
I didn't say you were a bad mother, I just said I was a deprived child.
I did wonder how someone who yesterday had "no food" in the house was making cookies. Now I know.
I don't really eat raw doughs and batters anymore (stupid food police/CDC) but remember it fondly.
I love anything with peanut butter in it. My mom never made cookies either but she was still great and I am sure you were great too.
P.S. I took your advice on the watermelon and love it!
Peanut butter is healthy. Chocolate fights depression. Ergo: these cookies can make you healthy and happy.
The peanut butter is the reason these have to be mashed, unlike most cookies. Must be all that protein!
Glad about the watermelon, but tell me how you feel about hard boiled eggs?
I made cookies two weeks ago almost like these but without the peanut butter. I put a large block of chocolate into a ziplock bag and then pounded it with my meat tenderizer for about 15 minutes. Everyone said they were waaaayyyy better than chocolate chips!
Kim (who's glad you're back blogging)
Once upon a time there were no chocolate chips. They were invented after the recipe for Toll House Cookies became a hit. We live in places where they don't know that. (They have gocce di cioccolato here, but they don't taste great.) I am not sure what I would get if I put a chunk of my gigantic Valrhona bar in a bag and murdered it, but I respect your intrepid spirit!
Do you know we resemble each other Kim? The difference is I have no cheeks. They have never been much, but are disappearing with age. I think they have relocated to my boobs.
Judith,
I knew I wouldn't remember your email address. My short term memory is really short. Anyway it was great meeting you yesterday. When you get a chance, can you send me your email address?
Thanks.
Cyn
americanmedusa@yahoo.com
hmmmmmm....ya don't seem like such a bad mom to me.....
it was nice , nice , nice to meet you in person. (and I have a sweet photo of you and Lila to send you) I'm sorry we didn't get to spend a bit more time together this weekend....you WILL come up my way and spend some time, one of these days......we could do a peanut butter cookie workshop. (I seem to have become the local goddess of p.b.....which I do now quite get as all you really need is the wherewithal to smash a few peanuts, so like WHAT the big deal is I do not understand! They (the locals) also seem to be very impressed by my relatively humble popcorn, although I confess to being in the possession of some powdered garlic and 2 tins of spanish smoked paprika, so.....
get up here...don't wait for the birth of the Sprog for heavens sake!!!!.....we'll have fun!
Isn't there a heartwrenching pop song about "Lila?" If not, there ought to be. It's too late to get Janis to sing it, but one could find someone undead to do it.
I do want to come to Torino. Sounds like you make popcorn akin to the fave of eg and me. The peanut butter thing appears to be like me when faced with some of the Italian products on arrival... what is it and how would I use it. If someone told them you put it on bread with marmellata that would pretty much wreck pb's reputation. They should have described peanut sauce!
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